A Light in The Dark
by cmgirl
Summary: A little story about how two damaged people manage to find each other during the end of the world and make something good despite the horror surrounding them. My first fanfiction. Please be gentle! Daryl/Carol
1. Chapter 1

**Hi all. This is my first fanfiction. I am very nervous about this. Constructive criticism is very welcome and good review is even more so. Please forgive any grammar mistakes as I haven't written for anyone but myself in a very long time. I'm a little rusty. I'm not sure how long this story will be but it's definitely going to be Daryl/Carol. Again, please be gentle, but please let me know what you think. Should I keep going or quit while I'm behind? :p**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Walking Dead or any of these characters. I am just taking them out to play with them and then I promise to put them back where I got them!**

It was abnormally dark the night the world ended. The clouds were all but blocking out all moonlight and the summer air was cooling, signaling the end of the hot Georgia summer and the beginning of fall. She was sitting outside under her favorite tree enjoying the first moment of peace she had had in weeks. Ed demanded to know where she was every moment of every day, and tonight was the first exception to that rule in a very long time. He was late and she was thankful. She knew she should feel guilty for feeling that way, knowing she should be worried. The news reports of the unknown virus were getting more and more serious, but she was just thankful for some peace and quiet. Sophia was tucked into bed and she was able to sit under her tree and enjoy the night.

She was just getting ready to take her shoes off and enjoy the cool grass between her toes when she heard it. It started with a little rustling in the bushes and she stood up to see if the neighbors' dog had gotten out of their yard again. That silly dog loved Sophia and took every opportunity to visit. Just as she was walking slowly towards the tall hedge line, she heard grunts and moans coming closer. Something wasn't right. As the hairs started to stand up on the back of her neck, she turned around and started running towards the house. She ran straight in the back door and slammed it closed. Peeking out the window, she saw two shadows slowly walk into her backyard. Although she could only see the outline of their bodies as the ambled across the yard, she could see that they weren't walking normally. One seemed to be limping and the other seemed to almost be listing sideways as if an invisible rope was pulling him away. She quickly shut off all the lights, and made sure the doors were locked. She wasn't sure what was going on but she didn't feel safe. For the first time all night, she wished Ed was home. He may be an abusive prick, but he had military training and she would at least feel that she and Sophia were protected from whatever was going on outside.

She sat in the hallway on the floor just outside of Sophia's room for what could have been minutes or hours, she wasn't sure. She was afraid. She was afraid for her baby girl, for herself, maybe even a little for Ed. She could hear screams outside in her neighborhood and every once in a while she heard moans and shuffling on their old dilapidated porch. She really needed help. She didn't want to wake up Sophia until she knew what to do and that they would be protected. Obviously the virus had moved away from large cities and was moving into the suburbs and rural areas. She also knew she couldn't keep sitting here doing nothing. Their old trailer was falling apart as it was, there was no way it would hold up if someone or _something_ wanted in. She knew it was time to act, but what could she do?

Still hopeful that Ed would make it home, she started packing essentials. She knew that no matter what, they couldn't stay here, so there were things they would need. She didn't know how long they would be gone, but they would need food, basic clothing and meds. She silently crept through the house gathering clothing for the three of them. Praying that Ed wouldn't think she was overreacting, she grabbed both of his old rucksacks that were in the back of the closet. She could fit much more in those than in her old, worn suitcase, and they would be much easier to carry around. She used the first, larger one for clothes, and the other for other essentials. She emptied the medicine cabinet and grabbed the large first aid kit that was hidden under the master bed. This was the first time she was thankful that such a large first aid kit was necessary, but living with Ed, she never knew what kind of medical care she would need and she was never allowed to go to the doctor or the ER. She had no choice but to take care of any and all injuries he inflicted.

* * *

She was quietly walking out of Sophia's room, when she heard him crash into the front door. Ed was home and he was in a hurry. He ran to her and shoved her into the bathroom. Pressing his hand across her mouth roughly and glaring as if daring her to speak.

"Keep quiet woman, don't you know what's going on out there?" he hissed.

She nodded her head, showing him that she understood that she had to be very quiet, and his hand left her mouth.

"I saw two men walk across the backyard earlier, and they didn't seem right. Then I stared hearing screams. I turned off all the lights and started packing for us." She said pointing to the clothes he caused her to drop when he grabbed her.

"Well get them, and let's get out of here, we can't stay here. Where's the little bitch? Why isn't she helping you?" he asked.

"Ed, I haven't woken her yet, I didn't want to scare her until I knew what we were going to do. I can do this myself. Please just leave her be until we are ready to go?" she pleaded.

"No!" he spat. "Get her ass up, she's not a baby, woman. I'm going to grab my MRE's, we're going to need them. You thought I was being paranoid all these years didn't ya woman? Well looks like my paranoia's gonna save your sorry life and the little bitches. Get her up and make her be useful for a change!"

Carol sighed. _Did I really wish for him to be home? Ughhh…_

She walked into Sophia's room and sat down on the side of the bed placing her had softly on her shoulder. "Sophia honey, wake up. Mommy needs to talk to you."

Sophia opened her eyes looking at her Mom with fear in her eyes. It broke Carol's heart to see that look in her eyes. It was a look she'd seen way too much already. No little girl should have to see and hear the things she'd heard in her life.

"Honey, you need to get up and get dressed very quietly. Don't turn on the lights, just get dressed and come find me. The sickness the news was talking about has made it to the area, and we are going away for a while. I will be in the kitchen packing some food. Just remember to be very quiet, OK baby?"

"OK, Mommy." Sophia whispered.

Carol was just finishing up packing up the last of the food they had in the kitchen that she knew wouldn't spoil quickly when Sophia walked into the kitchen.

"Mommy, what's happening?" she whispered with tears in her eyes.

Carol knew Sophia could hear the same screams she was hearing outside.

"Honey, I'm honestly not sure. I just know it's not safe for us here now, and we need to go. Can you.."

"What the hell are you two doing standing here? Don't you know it's the end of the world? We have to go. Get your asses in gear!" Ed yelled as quietly as he could. He came out of his room hefting two shot guns and one of the duffels on his back. "Carol grab the other bag. I'm going to peek outside, and as soon as it's clear, we are running straight to the car. Don't fall behind or I'll leave your asses here to get ate by the dead!"

Sophia and Carol both gasped at his words. "The dead? Ed you can't be serious?" Carol asked, placing a protective hand on Sophia's shoulder.

"I'm dead serious, woman. Heard on the radio on the way here. The dead are risin' and if they bite you or scratch you, you die and become one of them. The only way to kill 'em is to kill their brains. Now, both of you get behind me, as soon as it's clear you better be right behind me!"

Sophia was trembling but when Carol pushed her between herself and Ed, she went willingly. Carol wanted to make sure that Sophia didn't fall behind, because she knew Ed was serious. He would leave her. Hell, he would leave both of them given half the chance. Sophia was just evidence of the son he never had and Carol was the one who couldn't give him a son. From the day Sophia was born, he turned into this man. This man who seemed to only have hate and violence in his heart.

* * *

He never laid a hand on Carol until two weeks after they brought Sophia home from the hospital. That first time, she was having a hard time getting Sophia to calm down. Normally such a happy easy baby, she was screaming and screaming, having come down with a bit of colic. After two hours of trying and trying, Sophia had finally worn herself out and was asleep. Carol left her in the crib and walked out of the nursery to find a very angry Ed waiting just outside of the door. He grabbed by her long blonde hair and literally drug her into their bedroom.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? First you give me that little brat instead of the son I deserve, now you can't keep her quiet? You worthless bitch, you can't do nothin' right!" he screamed. Then he did something she never expected. He threw her on the ground and started kicking her. He kicked her over and over again in the stomach and legs. All she could do is curl up in a ball and try to protect herself and wait for this nightmare to be over.

Her life had been one nightmare after another since that day. She figured out a few ways to protect herself. She cut her hair, which earned her another beating, but at least he was no longer able to grab it and throw her around with it. She also learned that the best way to handle Ed was to go completely limp when he was like this. It took a little of the fire out of him if she didn't fight back. Her only goal was to protect her little girl the best she could. She had no family and had nowhere to go, but she would kill him before he touched Sophia, she would make sure of that.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-2/28/13

**Hi all, I'm back. Hopefully you're happy about that! I wasn't planning on updating until tomorrow or Saturday but thought that this was a good place to start. We're getting into the start of the series, so I guess spoiler warnings for Season 1. This is not really going AU quite yet, but will definitely get there. Until then, this story will loosely (very) be based on the show. For those of you wondering, we will be getting to Daryl and Merle very soon. Just had to get the rest of our little group together first. Anyway, hope you all are enjoying the story so far. Please review and let me know how I'm doing! Thanks!**

They made it to the car with no incident. Carol huddled in the back seat with Sophia while Ed turned towards the interstate. The radio was repeating the same message over and over again. There was a refugee center just outside of Atlanta and all evacuees in their area were to head there. Ed, however had other ideas. He wanted to head north of the city, towards Gainesville or even Cohutta National Forest. He grew up in that area and was convinced that nothing could have happened there. He didn't want to go to "some fuckin' refugee center and be told what to do and how to do it by some piss ant little boy soldiers. He could take care of his own damn family."

Carol said nothing as they headed north, letting Ed rant and rave as always. All she cared about was keeping Sophia safe. Sophia had laid her head down on Carol's lap and Carol just caressed her hair trying to keep her daughter calm. The last thing she needed was for Ed's rage to be turned to Sophia. The less attention they drew to themselves, the better off they would be.

They had been on the interstate for about 20 minutes when she heard Ed start swearing.

"What the fuck is this? Goddamn traffic jam!" he yelled, laying on the horn.

Carol jumped, and softly patted Sophia, signaling her to sit up. "Ed, I will get out and check. I'm sure with everything going on, someone panicked. There's probably a little fender bender. Come on Sophia, let's go see what's going on." Carol said, trying to keep Ed calm and there was no way she was leaving Sophia with him in this state.

"Fine, go and tell them to get the hell out of my way!" Ed snapped.

Carol and Sophia stepped out of the car and spotted a young couple with a son a little younger than Sophia a few cars ahead of them. They looked safe to speak to.

"Excuse me," Carol asked walking up to the woman and her son, "can you tell me what's going on? We are trying to get to my husband's family home in Gainesville."

"I'm not really sure." The woman said. "We've been stuck here about 30 minutes. No movement whatsoever. Our friend is walking ahead to see if he can see what's happening." She pointed to the tall, dark haired man walking away between the cars on the highway.

Soon, the man Carol had assumed was the woman's husband was hustling back through the traffic snarl.

"Lori, the cars are lined up as far as I can see. I don't think we should be here, all these people in one place is not good. One person gets sick and it'll be chaos."

"What do you want to do Shane? I trust you, you got us out of Buford, I trust you to keep us safe" Lori said.

"Who is this?" Shane said pointing to Carol and Sophia.

"I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself," Carol said, "I am Carol and this is my daughter, Sophia. The angry man honking the horn in our car is my husband Ed."

"I'm Lori and this is my son Carl and our friend Shane." Lori stated pointing to the man and the young boy still quietly leaning on their car. "We live in Buford, just southwest of here, Shane got us out of our house just in time. This virus is out of control. The radio keeps saying to head to Atlanta but Shane said it wasn't safe. Whatever this thing is, started in the big cities, he said there was no sense in heading into the outbreak. We were trying to head north, possibly to a small town or campground to wait this thing out."

"We were thinking about heading to Gainesville where my husband grew up, he has friends…"

"Carol! Don't be telling everyone where we're goin'! You don't know these damn people!" Ed said, stepping in between his wife and their new friends.

"I'm sorry Ed, I was just trying to get an idea of what's going on and I was going to come right back to you, I swear." Carol said, dropping her head, praying he wouldn't cause a scene.

Just as Ed was stepping into Carol's space, Shane stepped back between them and offered his hand. "I'm Shane Walsh and this here is Lori and Carl Grimes. We were just telling your wife here that the traffic is jammed as far as I can see. I'm thinkin' we should try to ride the side and take that next exit up there and see if there's a way 'round this mess. Don't think it's smart to be stuck around all these people right now."

Ed stepped back and grudgingly offered his hand in a quick but firm handshake. "Ed Peletier," Ed said, eyeing Shane. There was something about this guy that had Ed stepping back. "My wife, daughter and I are headin' towards my old hometown. Got some old Army buddies still livin' there, thought we would be better stickin' to the highways but guess not."

"Why don't you and I head back up towards the traffic snare and see if we can find any more info about what's going on here? I see a RV down a ways, maybe they'll let us climb on top, might be able to see more from there." Shane said. He really didn't like this guy around Lori and Carl. The way he spoke to Carol and got in her face, bothered Shane. He decided it was safer to keep this douchebag close.

Ed nodded, agreeing with Shane. "You two stay your asses right here, we'll be back." Ed said, glaring at Carol and Sophia.

"Yes Ed, we'll stay right here." Carol said, dropping her head.

* * *

While the guys were gone, Lori and Carol talked about how crazy the last few weeks had been. Lori explained that her husband, Rick, and Shane were both Sheriff's deputies and partners. Her husband was shot in the line of duty just a couple weeks before the first virus reports started. Shane had been trying to take care of her and Carl while her Rick was in the hospital in a coma. The hospital had called to let Lori know that they were readying a majority of their patients to be transferred to Saint Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta. Shane and Lori decided that it was time to evacuate with most of Buford. There were reports that a couple of "walkers" had been spotted at the edge of town. Shane left Lori to pack up what she could for herself and Carl and he went to the hospital to check on Rick. When Shane got to the hospital, Rick was dead, and there were walkers all over the hospital. Shane rushed back to Lori and Carl and got them out of town.

Carol shook her head, "Wow, that's horrible, I'm so sorry for your loss. It sounds like you and your son are very lucky to have Shane."

Lori nodded with a small smile, "We really are. I don't know what we would have done without him. He's been a real godsend. Isn't that right, Carl?" Lori said, trying to pull Carl into the conversation."

Carl hadn't spoken a word since they all met up and looked surprised to be included in the conversation. "Yeah, Uncle Shane is great." Carl said.

"Well speaking of the devil here he comes."Lori said, pointing to Shane and Ed jogging back to them.

"Made some friends up there, good people. There's no way we're going to get anywhere on this highway. Dale here," he said pointing to the older man walking up behind them, "owns the RV I talked about earlier. We all stood on top and there's a lot of lights flashing a few miles ahead, but I can't tell what's going on."

"There's a sign just ahead pointing to an old quarry, a small group of us are talking about heading that way. There might be a way around all this and if not it could be a good place to buckle down until the government get's this all under control" Dale spoke up.

"The shoulder is pretty clear all the way from here to the exit, if we take it slow, we might be able to get both your car and ours to the exit no problem. What do ya'll think? We can't stay here that's for damn sure."

"Shane, can I talk to you for a minute?" Lori asked. She like Carol and Sophia, but Ed made her really nervous. She wasn't sure having him around would be a good idea. "Carol, do you mind keeping an eye on Carl for a minute? Just want to have a quick talk with Shane."

"Sure, no problem, go ahead." Carol agreed.

Ed was busy talking to Ed and another young Asian man that had joined their conversation and Carol looked around, still in awe of what was going on. She looked over to the car and noticed that Sophia and Carl were both sitting on the ground speaking quietly.

"How are you guys doing?" Carol asked.

"I'm good Mommy, these people seem nice. Do you think Dad's going to let us go with them?" Sophia asked hopefully. She really liked Carl. She never got to be around kids her age. Her father made her Mom home school her so she rarely saw anyone but her parents.

"I hope so honey, Mr. Walsh is a policeman. He seems very dependable. Hopefully your father will agree that this is the best idea." Carol agreed.

"My Uncle Shane is a good guy. He and my Dad grew up together. He always knows what to do!" Carl said.

Carol smiled. The boy obviously had a little case of hero worship for the man. "Are either of you hungry? We have some MRE's in the car."

Both kids nodded eagerly.

"OK, you two stay right here, I will go to the car and grab one for the two of you to share."

As Carol headed to the car, Ed came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder roughly. "What the hell are you doin', we don't know these damn people. Ever heard of thang called "operational security?"

"Ed, he's just a kid, and he's hungry. We have plenty." Carol pleaded.

Ed reached into the open car window and grabbed a package of peanut butter crackers. "Give this to the brat, I ain't sharin' with a bunch of strangers. Bad 'nough we're probably gonna end up stuck with them for a while. Don't mean I gotta trust 'em. Now get on woman!"

Carol retreated with the crackers in hand. "Sorry guys, I guess we didn't pack them. Hopefully these will hold you over for now."

The kids eagerly ate the measly crackers and went back to their conversation. They seemed happy to have another kid to talk to.

Carol stood back and leaned against another car and put her head back and sighed. She hoped Shane and Lori would be back soon. She was starting to get the willies.

Soon, Shane and Lori came running, back. "We've gotta go and we've gotta go now!" Shane shouted. They just napalmed Atlanta. We've gotta get as far away from civilization as we can! Let's all meet at that quarry. Don't think it's more than fifteen miles up that road."

With that, everyone jumped into action. Carol grabbed Sophia's hand and helped her up and headed back to the car with Ed.

They all pulled on to the shoulder one by one and made it to the exit safely. With that, their little caravan was off.

**I hope to update again tomorrow or Saturday as originally planned. Just depends on how the story flows. I'm kinda writing on the fly here. I assure you that I will not leave this unfinished (I hate that!). I also promise some quality Daryl time VERY soon! Thanks for reading and please review. (I know, I'm like a broken record :))**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well here's chapter 3. Thanks so much to those of you who have reviewed and/or followed. I hope that everyone continues to enjoy this story. A few warnings with this one. Non-explicit non-con here and domestic violence. Ed's a bastard so this shouldn't come to much of a surprise to anyone but here's a warning just in case. Anyway, here's our next chapter. Please let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is welcome! Thanks!**

Shane was right, they reached the quarry reasonably soon. There was a small open area just about 50 yards from the water and they pulled off to the side of the narrow country road and exited their cars, gathering by the RV.

Carol was surprised as she watched their group grow. There were several more people than she realized. Along with Dale and the young Asian man, there were two blondes, who she suspected were sisters. There was also a small family, a petite black woman, a middle aged man and a large black man.

Shane spoke up, taking lead. "This looks like a good a place as any to camp for now. I'm sure the government will get this figured out, but in the meantime I think the best thing we can do is to sit tight and stay out of the way."

"I agree. There's fresh water here for fishing, bathing, and cleaning clothes. I'm sure there are lots of wildlife here. We're far away enough from the city to stay safe." Dale agreed. "I see another tent set up over there, shouldn't we check it out just to be safe?"

Shane pulled his gun from his hip and waved the large black man to cover him. "Everyone else just stay back. I'm sure it's nothing, but we can't be too careful right now."

The slowly approached the tent from both sides, and Shane motioned for his partner to slowly unzip the tent. They didn't detect any movement from inside the tent so Shane slowly lifted the flap and stepped inside, weapon drawn.

"Looks like it's abandoned, there's no one inside and almost completely empty. Looks like we have a extra tent if anyone needs it." Shane said.

"We don't know that for sure," one of the men said, "someone could come back for it. Just because there's no one here doesn't mean it doesn't belong to someone."

"Hell I don't give a shit, they left it here, it's fair game. I'll take it." Ed spouted off. "That's the world now ain't it? Shit's goin' to hell. We're gonna have to take what we can get, the hell with anyone else."

Everyone stared at Ed, shocked at his coldness. People were dying all other the country, and he was only worried about himself and what he can get.

Shane stepped forward, "Ed, you might be right, but Jim over there is right, someone could come back for their tent and stuff. Let's give 'em a little time before we just take it. I don't think the worlds come to that yet."

"Whatever man. If someone ain't back by tomorrow mornin' we're settlin' in. We only got one tent and we don't have enough room for all our stuff.

Carol knew what Ed was worried about. He wanted to keep all his precious supplies hidden. He didn't want to share with anyone. He could care less about all of the children there, even his own family. It was all about Ed and what he wanted.

Lori looked at Carol with sympathy and thankfully changed the subject. "Let's see what we all have and what we need. We need to make sure everyone has some sort of shelter. Then we can get everybody set up and get a fire started."

Everyone seemed to agree and headed back to their vehicles to get unloaded.

It seemed everyone had tents with the exception of the two young women. Dale graciously offered his RV, which seemed to thrill both women.

Once everyone had their tents set up and Shane got a fire started, they all gathered around the fire to get to know each other. Ed spent about 10 minutes listening before he announced it was time for him to turn in and made it clear that he expected Carol and Sophia to follow him very soon.

Carol tried to enjoy herself the best she could while she could. She really wanted to get to know this group. It was possible that they would be together for at least a few weeks. She rarely got to meet new people and make friends and this seemed like a good opportunity. Despite the chaos in the world, there seemed to be a few good things coming from it. Sophia and Carl had become fast friends and were chattering quietly while the adults talked.

She found out that she was right, the two girls were sisters. Andrea and Amy were on a cross country trip when the virus broke out. The Morales family were from Marietta and were also originally heading to Gainesville where the wife had family. Jim was from Atlanta, and had lost his wife and daughter to the virus. He got very quiet when everyone started asking questions. No one else had had any real experience with the virus yet and were curious, but he didn't seem to want to talk about it. The other two men were Glen and T-Dog. They were both from Atlanta as well and lived in the same apartment building. When hell started to break loose they headed out of town with everything they could carry. They were just outside of town when their car broke down and Dale picked them up.

Carol was so happy to see that everyone here seemed to be very nice and willing to help each other. If this had to happen, she felt that there was no better group to be with. As the night wore on, everyone started drifting off to their tents. Shane and Dale talked about the need to set up a watch just to make sure everyone was safe. It was agreed that Shane and T-Dog take the first watch, one at the road by the vehicles and the other at the mouth of the forest. At just before dawn, Glen and Dale could take over. No one even mentioned Ed. It seemed they already had him pegged.

* * *

As everyone settled in for the night, Carol took Sophia's hand and sighed as she walked towards the tent. She was not looking forward to sharing a tent with Ed. She almost wished whoever left the other tent wouldn't come back for it. Maybe she could talk Ed into letting her and Sophia share a tent and he can keep all his precious supplies in his tent with him. The way Ed had been looking at Sophia lately bothered Carol, and there was no way she would leave Sophia in a tent with him if she had a choice. Either Sophia would have to get up with Carol when she was up or Carol would be stuck in the tent until Sophia woke.

Placing her hands on Sophia's shoulders, Carol bent down so she was eye to eye with her daughter. "Honey, are you OK? I haven't had a chance to really talk to you since we left home."

"I'm OK Mommy. It was really scary until we met Carl and the others. Now this seems fun!"

Carol smiled, wondering at her daughters' positivity. She really was an angel. "OK, honey, I just wanted to touch base with you before bed. Now be very quiet getting in the tent. We don't want to wake Daddy if he's already asleep. I will be right behind you, OK?

Sophia nodded, suddenly looking a little nervous. Carol knew Sophia wasn't looking forward to getting into the tent with Ed anymore than she was.

Carol unzipped the tent and Sophia stepped in quietly. Carol walked in behind her and shook her head. Ed had plopped down right in the middle of the tent. She would either have to wake him and get him to move over or they would have to sleep on either side of him. Carol knew she was going to have to take a chance and wake him because there was no way she was leaving Sophia beside him.

"Ed, can you please move over a little bit so Sophia and I can lay down?" She asked softly nudging his shoulder. Getting no response, she nudged him a little harder, asking again. Just as she was about to push him a little harder, his head snapped up and he grabbed her wrist and twisted it. She looked up at him and even in the dark he could see the rage in his eyes.

"Where the fuck have you two been? You should have had your sorry asses in here an hour ago!" Still holding onto Carol's wrist, he turned to Sophia. "I saw you with that boy, girl. You turnin' into a little slut like your mamma?"

"Ed!" Carol shouted, "Please don't do this, the others are so close. They will hear. We're sorry that we didn't come to bed when we should have. It won't happen again, I promise. Let's just go to sleep."

"Well I was asleep til you two decided to come in here and wake me. Well now I'm up. Whatya gonna do about it?"

Carol knew what he was getting at but she prayed he wouldn't really follow through with it with their daughter in the tent. She could handle whatever he handed out, she was used to it, but she didn't want her daughter to witness it.

"Ed, can we please just go to sleep? It's so late and we all need our rest. We have a lot of decisions to make in the next few days."

He seemed to settle down. Carol was surprised that it worked, but was thankful. It had been such a horrible, long day and she just didn't have the energy to fight with him tonight.

"Fine, get your asses to sleep." He said. "I don't wanna here a flippin' peep from either one of ya."

Ed finally dropped her wrist and she made sure Sophia got settled on the other side of her and then laid down herself. Pulling the blankets up around her daughter, she prepared herself for a long, sleepless night, shielding her daughter from her father.

Ed seemed to settle down soon after Sophia and Carol was starting to dose off when Ed suddenly reached around and grabbed her breast roughly and whispered in her ear. "Bitch, you know better than to turn me down. You worthless twat, you do what I do when I tell you, if you know what's good for ya. Now get down there and take care of your business. The only damn thing you're good at."

"Ed, please don't do this. Not with Sophia here. It's not right!" Carol frantically whispered, praying that Sophia would stay asleep.

Ed grabbed Carol by the neck and forced her under the covers. "You do it or I'll wake up the little bitch and…"

"No, no, no!" Carol cried, "I'll do it, please don't wake her."

At that she crawled down her husbands body and trying to stay calm, went to work. She was trying to concentrate on what she was doing, but was choking back sobs and she could tell it was pissing Ed off. He had his hand on the back of her head and was getting rougher and rougher, slamming himself harder and harder down her throat. Finally her throat couldn't take it anymore and she gagged, throwing up a little on him. Ed was enraged.

"You fucking bitch!" He yelled, pushing her off of him. "You're fucking worthless, I don't even know why I keep you around." He ripped open the tent and shoved her out, getting out behind her. Grabbing her arm he dragged her behind him and headed towards the water.

Carol was frantic. She was so afraid that everyone was going to hear and see what Ed was about to do to her, and even more afraid that Sophia would try to follow them and get caught in the middle of her father's rage.

Once they got to the water, he stopped and pushed Carol to her knees right at the edge of the water. "I should drown your worthless ass. Do the world a favor!" he said and back handed her. She fell on her side and went limp as always. Closing her eyes and bracing herself, she waited for the next blows.

They didn't come.

She opened her eyes and saw a man dragging him off, farther down the shore. Then she saw him.

The clouds had moved on and the moonlight shown bright off the water and his blue eyes seemed to almost glow. He reached his hand out to offer her a hand up.

She didn't know why she took it but it's like someone else took over her body. She took his hand and he pulled her up. "Thank you." She said softly.

He just nodded. "Ya alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine" she whispered. Finally coming back to reality, she realized she didn't know this man or the other who took Ed. "Who are you?" she asked, "who was that other man?"

"That's my brother Merle. We were comin' out of the woods and heard ya two fightin'" he stated. He looked like he wanted to say more, but held back.

"What's he doing with my husband?"

"Well, knowin' Merle, teachin' the man a lesson. Don' worry, he won't kill 'em." He said with a smirk. "Unless you want him to?"

Carol was speechless. This was all too much. The man himself was just mesmerizing her. The fact that these two strangers stepped up and helped her was just overwhelming.

"Ya ask me, you'd be better off if ya let old Merle take care of 'em." The man stated. When Carol didn't reply, he shook his head sadly. "Well get on back to your tent. I won't let my brother kill 'em. We'll just put him somewhere where he can think about what he done."

Carol just nodded, still unsure what to make of this man. Turning to head back to her tent, it hit her. She turned back around and called quietly, "You still didn't tell me your name!"

"Daryl Dixon," he stated, "now get on to bed. We'll take care of the ole hubby tonight."

Carol wasn't sure why, but she did just that. It wasn't that she didn't care about what happed to her husband. She didn't want him to die. There was just something about Daryl that made her trust him. She had known him five minutes and she felt safer than she had felt the last 22 years.

Sighing, she crawled back into their tent. Sophia was sitting up sobbing. She had obviously heard her father drag her mother out of the tent.

"Shhhh, it's OK sweetheart. Everything's going to be OK. I promise. "

With that, she laid down and pulled her daughter with her, trying to calm her. Telling her everything was going to be OK over and over again until finally Sophia was lulled to sleep. Laying awake, holding her daughter, Carol realized that for the first time in a long time, she felt everything really was going to be OK.

**OK, there you go a little taste of Daryl. There will be much more of the Dixon brothers in the next chapter. I'm switching to Daryl's POV. Just wanted to get everyone settled into their little temporary home first :) Thanks again for reading and please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well here' s Chapter 4. It's all from Daryl's point of view. I hope I did him justice. I haven't had a chance to reply to reviews from the last chapter so let me just say thanks and I hope you like this one. There's some violence in this chapter, but I think most will agree that it's completely necessary. Besides, this is Walking Dead, if you were against violence, you wouldn't be watching.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Walking Dead and most definitely will not be making money from this. I just like to borrow the characters from time to time (especially Daryl), but I promise to out them back where I found them when I'm done.**

He never imagined the world could be more of a shit hole than it had been the last 32 years of his life, but he was wrong. Everything was going to hell. Not just normal hell, but honest to damn goodness, Revelations type hell. The damn dead risin', cities in flames, type of hell. Hell, he was just waiting for the devil himself to rise and he figured the world would be good 'n done for.

Daryl figured he'd just keep doing what he'd been doing the last 10 years. Hunting and fishing and keeping to himself. He was wrong. Just as he was setting out to get away from town, his brother Merle showed up. There went his quiet. Daryl loved his brother, he just didn't really like being with his brother. Damn man never shut up. Even if Daryl wanted to talk, he wouldn't be able to get a word in. It was like being with a damn woman, though Daryl never said that to his brother. Merle was blood though and he couldn't turn him away. So, they set off together to find a remote place to hide out and wait for the world to right itself.

They set up camp at an old quarry not far from where their pop's old hunting cabin used to be. The cabin was gone but they still knew their way around the woods and knew where they could find the best hunting. They had been out to inspect the old property and hunt for the last two days and were approaching their campsite when they heard the sound of a woman softly crying by the water and a man shouting.

Daryl silently lifted his hand up behind him, motioning Merle to stop. Pointing to the couple by the shore, and nodding to each other, they silently agreed on a plan. Merle ran silently to the man and grabbed him by the neck and drug him away from the woman he had been beating. Daryl stayed behind to make sure she was OK.

The woman still had her head down seemingly bracing herself for another assault, but when it didn't come, she sat up, looking up and straight into his eyes. She was so small, he wondered how she wasn't in worse shape. The man was large and Daryl could see that the man hadn't been holding back as he hit her.

Reaching out, he offered his hand. She took it and he pulled her up, their eyes never leaving each other. _"What the hell?" _he thought. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her.

"Thank you." She said softly.

"Ya alright?" he asked.

Pulling her eyes away from him, she nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Who are you? Who was that other man?"

"That's my brother Merle. We were comin' out of the woods and heard ya two fightin'." He wanted to say and ask so much more. Who was that man? What was she doing out in the woods alone with him? He didn't though. Wasn't any of his damn business, he told himself, even though in the back of his mind a voice was telling him that it was his business. Something about this woman made him want to make her his business.

"What's he doing with my husband?" she asked.

Well that answers my first question he thought. He really hoped the man was just some stranger, and that him and Merle could really dole out some Dixon justice, but the woman might not take kindly to that since he was her husband. "Well knowin' Merle, teachin' the man a lesson. Don' worry, he won't kill 'em. Unless you want him to?" He couldn't help but smirk a little at that. He said a little prayer hoping she would say it was OK.

The woman just stared blankly at him, like she wasn't comprehending what was happening.

"Ya ask me, you'd be better off if ya let old Merle take care of 'em." He said. She still wasn't speaking so he shrugged. "Well get on back to your tent. I won't let my brother kill 'em. We'll just put him somewhere where he can think about what he done."

Finally the woman acknowledged him with a nod. She turned towards her tent and he was watching her walk away. Just as she was nearing the campsite, she turned around and walked a few steps back toward him. "You still didn't tell me your name!" she said quietly.

"Daryl Dixon, now get on to bed. We'll take care of the ole hubby tonight." He stated.

He watched her until she was safely back to her tent. He was amazed that no one had come at some point in their conversation. He and Merle had both noticed two men guarding the camp when they came around from the back of the lake. Apparently not very good watchmen he thought, shaking his head.

He walked around the edge until he found Merle and the man. The man was on the ground curled up in a ball. Merle was stomping on the man's right hand when he reached out to stop his brother. Boy, Merle had done a number on the man. He nose was bleeding, definitely broken and his right arm was twisted awkwardly. He resisted the urge to jump in and take his turn, but unfortunately he promised the woman that they wouldn't kill her husband. He knew that if he started, he wouldn't stop. After meeting the woman, there was no way he could control himself.

"Merle, that's enough. Just leave him be for now." He said.

"Aw now c'mon brother. I was just gettin' started. First time I've got to dance since I got out of the pen. You're killin' all my fun."

"Sorry brother, but I promised the lady we wouldn't kill him. Apparently he's her husband."

"Her husband, huh?" Merle asked, shaking his head. "Way I see it, all the more reason to put this sorry piece of shit down." He said, kicking the man again.

Daryl resisted the urge to agree. "Naw, he ain't goin' no where anytime soon. Just leave him there. We need to go back up to the campsite and find out what's goin' on. We knew other people might find this place, but didn't think it'd be this soon. "

Merle nodded, and with one more slight kick, the man rolled to the edge of the water. "You know what's best for ya, I suggest you don't leave from this spot, less you want us to break that promise my brother made to the lady."

Daryl chuckled. His brother might be a lot of things, but he would never hurt a woman. They both spent their early years watching their dad beat on their mom. When Merle was older, he stepped up and took a lot of beatings to protect his mom and little brother. When their mother died, Merle lost it. He started skipping school and getting in fights and ended up in juvie for stealing the mayors' car, leaving Daryl to take the brunt of their fathers' beatings until he was old enough to defend himself. After Merle's second visit to jail, he came home to find his father on top of his brother carving his chest with an old hunting knife. Merle pushed the old man off his brother and took the knife and buried in into their fathers chest. So Merle ended up back in jail for the next ten years. He said it was all worth it. They were both free.

Now the world was going to shit and their quiet place to hide out had been invaded.

They trudged up the hill to the campsite, heading straight to their tent.

"Hold up! Who are you? What are you doin' here?" a man said, jumping down from the top of the RV by the road. Walking over to the men with a shotgun pointed straight at them.

"Woah, now son, no need to be pointin' guns. We're just goin' to our tent. Me and my brother here were just goin' to check out our tent. We were here first, mind you, and we ain't complainin' about you bunch invadin' our place are we?"

The man started to drop his gun when he noticed that Merle had blood all over his shirt. Lifting the shot gun again. "Stop right there! You been bit? What's all the blood on your clothes?"

Hey now, just calm down there. Ain't my blood. Had a little altercation with one of your group down by the water. Son of a bitch was beating on his wife down there. I just taught the man a little manners is all. No harm done. Well none that matters anyways."

"What? Ed? Is Carol OK?" Shane asked, dropping the gun, starting towards Carol and Ed's tent.

Daryl stepped in his path. "She's fine. I sent her back to her tent. We stopped him before he did much damage."

"Well if it's all the same to you, I'd like to see that for myself. I don't know you." Shane said.

Daryl stepped out of his way. "Suit yourself. I think the woman needs sleep more than anyone else buggin' her."

"She has her daughter in there, I just want to check on them both." Shane said, heading to the tent.

"A daughter, she didn't say nothin' about no daughter." Daryl said, following Shane.

He had no idea that she had a little girl. He didn't have any reason to ask, but he still felt like he should have asked. He prayed that the man hadn't put his hands on his daughter too. He hated the thought of the woman's little girl going through the same shit he did as a kid.

"You two go on. I'm gonna check on our tent, make sure everything is there." Merle said.

Daryl just shook his head. He knew that Merle was worried about his stash. There wasn't really much else in the tent but some blankets and an old radio.

They stopped in front of the tent and Shane saw that it wasn't closed all the way so he just stepped in quietly. Carol and Sophia were curled up together asleep. Shane could see a bruise forming on Carol's cheek but other than that, they both looked ok.

Stepping out of the tent, Shane nodded. "Looks like Sophia is fine. They are both asleep. You're right, it's better not to wake 'em right now. So, it's just the two of you?"

Daryl nodded. "Yeah, our pop used to live by here, so we came up here to get away from the geeks."

"Geeks?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, them dead fuckers walkin' around?" Daryl said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, haven't heard them called that. You know for sure that their dead? I been hearing on the news that they were but just don't see how that's possible."

"It's real man. Their dead. Saw a dude take a 12 gauge shot straight to the chest. About an hour later, fucker got up and killed two people before I could put an arrow through his head."

Shane just shook his head.

"Look man, the girlie chat's been nice an' all, but I need to hit the sack. Been out for almost two days, my ass is draggin'.

"OK, we'll talk tomorrow." Shane assured him.

"Oh boy." Daryl said rolling his eyes and walked away.

Daryl approached the tent and prayed that his brother had just gone to sleep and didn't drug himself up again. If there was one thing that made Daryl wanna kill his brother, it was when Merle was high. He turned into a huge bastard. A racist, loud-mouthed bastard.

Daryl got into the tent and was relieved to see Merle passed out in the middle of the tent. Daryl just shoved his brother over and swiped one of the three blankets Merle had hogged and bedded down. Just as he was drifting off to sleep, his thoughts went back to the woman. The other man said her name was Carol. He didn't understand what it was about her. Maybe she reminded him of his mother. Maybe that's why he wanted to protect her so much. Except he never felt what he was feeling about his mother. He thought about how her eyes almost drilled into his. How her short hair allowed him to see her beautiful face. How her skin glowed in the moonlight. Shaking it off, telling himself he needed to stop it, he rolled over and drifted off to sleep. Still, his dreams were filled with visions of baby blue eyes and soft ivory skin.

**Hope everyone likes it. Please review and let me know! Hope to have Chapter 5 up tomorrow, but no promises :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well here's the next chapter. I had a hard time with this one. I know where I'm going with this but just having a hard time getting there. I hope this one works for you guys. I re-wrote this one a couple of times and I'm happier with this one that the last two tries. I was hoping for a little Caryl inspiration in last nights episode but that definitely didn't happen. I really like it, but I sure missed the rest of our crew! Looks like next week is gonna be intense. Anyway, enjoy!**

The next morning, Daryl woke up to an empty tent. Though he was happy for a little peace and quiet, he knew he better get up and make sure his brother wasn't causing any trouble. Deep down he was probably just as anxious to see Carol again, but there was no damn way he was going to admit it. The last thing he needed was a damn woman to complicate his life.

Jumping up and putting his boots on, he walked outside.

"Hey there little brother, nice of ya to grace us with your company!" Merle said.

Crap, he thought, Merle found his stash. He could see that right off. He had a wild look in his eyes and didn't seem to be able to stay still.

Nodding Daryl walked up to him. "What's goin' on?" he said, nodding to the group down by the water.

"Fucker we beat up last night got bit by a geek. Playboy over there won't let me take care of it. Made me come back over here. Damn fools don't know what's gonna happen if they don't take care of their business. Ain't like it'll be a loss for the damn world. "

"Dammit Merle, we promised her we wouldn't kill him." Daryl said angrily.

"Hey, we didn't kill 'em, ain't my fault they let that geek get into camp." Merle said smirking.

Daryl wondered if there was more to it than that, but Merle was right, it isn't like the man was a real loss. He might be to Carol. No matter how he treated her, she's gonna care, he thought. He remembered how his mama stood up for their dad anytime someone stepped up to help them. He hoped Carol wouldn't be like that.

"He still alive down there?" Daryl asked.

"Far as I know. Was when I was down there. He ain't got long though. You ask me they need to stop pussyin' around and do what they gotta do."

"Stay your ass here, Merle. I'll be back." Daryl demanded, heading towards the group.

"Who the hell ya think you are? My mama? You think you can start tellin' me what to do all the sudden? Just cause the worlds endin' don't mean hell froze over quite yet." Merle said laughing like a maniac.

"You're high as fuck and there's kids around. You start showin' your ass and people gonna take notice. Just keep your ass here."

Merle just snorted. "Whatever Darylena."

Rolling his eyes, he headed towards the group.

* * *

**Carol POV**

Staring down at her husband, she could hardly believe what was happening. Last night, she felt so hopeful that things were going to be OK, but now watching her husband bleed out in front of her, she felt guilty. She let those men, strangers really, take him away. This was payback for trusting them. Now they had no one. She couldn't defend herself and her daughter. Ed was at least good for that. She didn't know any of these people and they didn't deserve being saddled with a defenseless woman and a child.

She could hear Shane and Dale arguing about the best way to dispose of Ed. She knew it was coming. He was a danger before this, God only knew what kind of chaos he would cause as one of those things she kept hearing about.

She had spent quite a while talking to Sophia this morning after her father was found. Explaining to her what had happened and giving her a chance to ask whatever questions she had. Sophia was very quiet, and Carol guessed that she wasn't really sure how to feel. She could understand that, she felt the same way. Carol explained to her daughter what they would have to do and asked Sophia if she wanted to say goodbye to her father. Sophia just said no. Carol wasn't really surprised, Ed and Sophia weren't close like fathers and daughters should be. She was just an annoyance to him, evidence of the son she wasn't.

After their talk, Sophia asked Lori if she minded keeping an eye on Sophia while she said goodbye to her husband.

Staring down at him, she spoke softly. "Ed, it's Carol, I hope you can understand me? I'm sorry that this happened, I really am. Things haven't been the best between us for a long time, but I remember when you were a good man. So I am sorry, sorry I couldn't give you the son you wanted. I'm sorry that I couldn't be the wife you wanted. I'm sorry that I let those men take you away last night. I'm sorry that…"

"What the hell you apologizin' to him for?"

She jerked her head up and came face to face with one of the men from last night. The one with those eyes, Daryl. The one that made her feel so safe.

"He's my husband. It wasn't right for me to let you and your brother take him away like that. If I had just taken my punishment, he wouldn't be here dying right now." She said, dropping her head.

"Look lady, I don't know you, but I say if he'd a just kept his hands to himself, he wouldn't be dyin' right now. So maybe ya ought to save your damn tears for someone that deserves 'em." He said and walked away.

* * *

**Daryl POV**

He knew he shouldn't of said that to her, but dammit he hated hearing her cry and apologize to him like that. That fucker would have beat her down last night if they hadn't come across them when they did. He heard the bastard threaten to drown her and now she was apologizin' to him. As far as Daryl was concerned the man got what was comin' to him.

He just stood there, caught between the gathering of people behind him and Carol sitting with her husband. He didn't want to leave her there, but he knew the time was approaching to take care of this situation.

Carol made the decision for him. He watched her rise and head straight for the group. "He's gone, Shane."

"Carol, I'm sorry. I really am." Shane said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "We're gonna have to…"

"I know what has to be done." She said cutting him off. "I will do it, I was his wife."

"Now, Carol, you don't have to do that." Dale said. "You should be with your daughter. We can take care of this. No need for you to…"

"No! I WILL TAKE CARE OF HIM. I'm the one who was married to him, I'm the one who spent the last 22 years with him. I WILL DO IT. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

Daryl was impressed. This seemed like a different woman than the woman he found sobbing over her husbands' body. This woman was taking control.

"Carol, this ain't gonna be as simple as putting a bullet in his brain. We need all the ammo we can get right now and just can't afford it. Besides, Jim over there was sayin' that noise drawls 'em in. We don't want any more of them things comin' through here." Shane said.

"That's fine. I can handle it." Carol said. "I'd just like to be alone while I do it."

"No," Daryl said. "I'll stay with ya."

Carol stared at him, and he could tell she wanted to refuse, but in the end she stayed silent and gave him a slight nod.

T-Dog handed her the pickaxe he'd been carrying. "You sure about this ma'am? It ain't gonna be easy or clean."

"Yes, I'm sure. Nothing's ever been easy with Ed, and I suspect nothing in the world will ever be clean again, I might as well get used to it." Carol said and took the axe. "Just let me do this. Tell Lori I will be back in a bit for Sophia."

With that the group scattered. Daryl was surprised that they didn't protest more, but he was glad they didn't. Seemed to him that the lady needed this. Maybe they saw that too.

Daryl followed Carol back over to her husband. He wasn't really sure what he was doing here, or why he felt the need to stand by her for this, but here he was and he couldn't back out now.

"Ya gotta get the head. You sure you don't wanna knife or somethin'? I got one in my tent." Daryl suggested. "That pickaxe is heavy for a little thing like you."

With that, she raised it over her head and brought it down, straight through Ed's head. Then again, and again and again. She kept going until she couldn't raise it over her head anymore and collapsed on the ground.

Daryl just stood there in shock. She might be little, but she was strong.

"Well OK, then. Why don't ya clean up a little bit and I'll take ya over to your kid, then we'll get him outta here?" Daryl said, offering her a hand up.

She took his hand and nodded. Walking over to the water, she splashed water on her hands, arms, and face. "That will have to do for now. I need to get back to Sophia." She said walking away.

He followed her up the hill, keeping his distance, but as they approached the group she turned around and softly said "Thank you."

He nodded and watched her walk to her daughter.

Walking back to their side of the camp, he saw his brother sprawled out in a chair by their tent talking to Shane. He could tell that Shane was getting more and more angry by the second and that Merle was just fueling the fire.

"It's done." He said to Shane. "She was gonna go check on her kid, I told her we'd take care of him. Got any plan on how we get rid of him."

"T-Dog and Jim are out in the field, diggin' a grave for him. Should be done pretty soon." Shane said.

Daryl nodded.

"Your brother and I were just discussin' what happened last night and future arrangements. Looks like we're gonna all be stuck with each other for a bit." Shane said.

"Fucker here wasn't discussin' anything, he was layin' down the law." Merle said.

"I just don't want any more incidents like last night on our hands. I appreciate what you two did for Carol, but leavin' people, no matter what they done, on their own, defenseless can't be done anymore." Shane said.

"We don't need a pig tellin' us what to do. Me and my brother here ain't responsible for that shit. You had people watchin', how'd the geek get in huh? That ain't on us. That's on you people."

Daryl decided it was time to step in.

"Won't happen again." He said to Shane.

"Damn right, it ain't happenin' again. We'll just take off, don't need you fuckers draggin' us down anyways." Merle said looking to his brother for confirmation.

Any other time, Daryl would agree, but he didn't want to leave. He didn't even know these people, but he didn't want to leave.

"Just give us some time, man. We won't cause no more trouble. My word on it." Daryl assured Shane.

"S'all I ask." Shane said and walked away.

"What the hell little brother, why ya kissin' the pigs ass like that? We don't need those fuckers. We'll be just fine. Only a Dixon can kill a Dixon."

"Where's your stash Merle?" Daryl asked.

"What the fuck you want with my shit? You ain't never been interested in partakin' before." Merle said.

"Still ain't, it's time for you to quit that shit. World's bad enough as it is, don't need to have to deal with your high ass causin' us trouble with everybody we meet."

"Listen here ya little shit, you might be all grown up now, but you still ain't got big enough balls to take my shit." Merle said standing up.

"Wanna bet? Look, Merle, you're my brother and I'd do anything for ya, but when you're high I wanna kill ya myself. There's too much shit goin' down and I need to be able to trust you to have my back. I can't do that when you're all methed out. It's time to give up the shit brother." Daryl said.

"I know what this shit's really about. It's about the woman, ain't it?" Merle said smirking.

"I dunno what you're talkin about. This is about you and the fact I can't depend on your ass anymore!" Daryl shouted and stormed off.

He kept walking until he hit the end of the pier and plopped down hard. He loved his brother, but he knew he was gonna get himself or both of them killed someday. There weren't just geeks out there to worry about. Some people were worse than twenty of them and Merle's mouth was gonna get him in trouble someday. He didn't want to leave him, he just wanted his real brother back. The one he could count on when shit hit the fan.

Merle was right about one thing though, it was about the woman too. She confused the shit out of him. One minute she was a weak little mouse, then the next minute she was fierce, with a fire in those blue eyes that Daryl couldn't resist. Now he just had to decide if he wanted to resist.

**Well there ya go, Chapter 5. Things are going to go more and more AU as we go, but still using the show as a baseline right now. It might be a few days before the next update. Works a little crazy right now, but I'll be back, I promise. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it :) **

**Carol's POV**

For the next few weeks, the group slowly learned how to survive in their new world. Everyone tried to find their place and do their part to keep everyone healthy and safe. Carol did everything she could to stay busy and contribute. She refused to be a burden to the group. She worked hard doing the groups laundry, working with the kids on school work, and had learned how to make a pretty mean roasted squirrel by campfire.

Glen had proved himself to be invaluable when it came to going to the city to forage for supplies, and Shane and T-Dog had taken over the security of the group. After the first nights' events, it really hit them how easily walkers could make it into camp. There were now cans tied all around the camp and there were always at least two people on guard at night, and no one went anywhere alone at anytime. Along with Carol, Lori tended to stick close to camp and helped with laundry and meals. Andrea didn't seem to want much to do with the laundry and cooking so the men were now teaching her to shoot, happy to have another hand for security. Her sister Amy was very good with the kids and had taken over their education with the help of Carol and Lori. Dale and Jacqui helped organize all the supplies that Glen brought back from the city. Overall, things were going very smoothly. It was ironic that so far the end of the world had been more peaceful for Carol than the rest of her life had. The only hiccup was the Dixon brothers. Both in their own way.

Merle tended to gleefully get under everyone's skin any chance he got. It was like the man was born with x-ray vision and knew what button to push for each person to really piss them off. Daryl on the other hand tended to stay in the background, only calling attention to himself when Merle began to really show his ass. Even then he just simply announced that they were going hunting and took his brother away. As a result they were gone more often than not. Carol wondered how they survived on so little sleep and tried her best to take care of them when they were around.

The two men were hard to take care of. Merle wasn't so bad around her for some reason, but still had to push his limits if she wandered towards their area. Daryl on the other hand had become surly and almost rude. He rarely said a word to her and when he did it was short and dismissive. She was having a hard time reconciling either of these men with the two that saved her weeks ago. They definitely weren't your normal knights in shining armor.

Regardless of how difficult the two men were, she persisted. The food they brought back from their many hunts was invaluable. Without their contributions she was sure everyone in the group would be in much worse shape. She made sure both men got just a little larger helping when she could and that any clothing they left behind while they were hunting were as clean as she could get them by the time that they returned.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard everyone was working, supplies were getting low. They needed too many things for Glen to carry on his own. The weather would turn cooler soon, and they needed blankets and at least one more tent. They were also running dangerously low on ammo and had very few weapons. They were running into more and more walkers everyday and although their security was working so far, they couldn't assume that would always be so.

**Daryl's POV**

They were all drivin' him nuts. Plumb fuckin' nuts. He needed to get away from the whole damn group, including his druggy, trouble making brother. Unfortunately, unless he wanted that big mother fucker Shane to kill his brother, he had to keep him with him. Merle just couldn't leave well enough alone. Had to keep needling everyone until they hated him and by extension Daryl. He tried his best to keep Merle occupied and they'd hunted together more in the last few weeks than they had since they were growing up, trying to escape their abusive prick of a father.

When Shane announced that they needed to go on a run, he sighed with relief. Maybe he could get away from a few of them for a while. If T-Dog and some of the others took off for the city, Merle would have less targets and he could have some peace and quiet. Or so he thought.

Merle was insisting that he be allowed to go with them. He had "shit" he needed to get and he wasn't taking no for an answer. Daryl thought about stepping in and telling his brother that he could go in his place, but then he realized leaving Merle with Shane would be a very bad idea. Shane and T-Dog were Merles' favorite targets. He had more confidence that T-Dog would keep his cool than the more volatile Shane. He also didn't want to leave Merle here with Carol. He had finally gotten to the point of admitting to himself that there was something about the woman. Unfortunately, Merle was observant and noticed Daryl watching her when he thought no one would notice. When Merle confronted him about it, Daryl denied and began to overcompensate by trying to act like Carol wasn't around at all. She brought them food every night they were in camp and made sure their laundry was always done. While Merle flirted and acted like a general ass anytime she came to their area, Daryl barely nodded at her and avoided any chance of conversation.

The more he avoided her, the worse he felt. He could see how much it bothered her when he ignored her or snapped at her, but he had already decided it was best for both of them to keep her at a distance. He wasn't any good, and add Merle into the equation and he was toxic for her. He wasn't going to let her get close, no matter how much he yearned to let her.

Against his better judgment, he kept his mouth closed. If Merle wanted to go with the others to Atlanta, he wouldn't say a word. Merle was an adult and if that's what he wanted to do, then he could damn well go. If he drove the others nuts and they shot his sorry ass, then it'd be his own damn fault. For once, he was on his own.

Standing outside his tent, he watched the others load up. He shook his head as he watched his brother and T-Dog argue about everything from what route they should take to who sat where in the cargo van they had come across. He was glad he decided to stay out of that mess. Almost smirking as he watched the car drive away, still hearing Merle bitching about being stuck in the back.

Taking the opportunity for some peace, he walked towards the water, thinking that this was probably the first time he could relax, at least a little, in over a month. From the day Merle showed up, he'd had someone yammering in his damn ear almost every waking moment. This was going to be nice.

**Carol POV**

Carol watched as the others pulled away. She didn't like the group being split up like this, but understood the necessity of it. There were only so many supplies Glen could gather on his own. Shane stayed behind, which was strange since the run was his idea, but it wasn't really a surprise. The last week or so Carol noticed that as soon as the kids were all busy with school work, Lori and Shane tended to disappear. She didn't want to judge her new friend, but she was having a hard time understanding how Lori could move on from her husband so soon after losing him, and with his best friend. Carol's marriage may have been a nightmare, but she couldn't even see herself getting involved with anyone so soon.

Just as that thought went through her mind, she saw Daryl heading away from the campsite towards the water. The man was absolutely baffling. The first few days of their time there, he was almost sweet in his own awkward way, and then it's like someone or something flipped a switch. She had no idea how to handle him, but she was determined to figure it out. Checking to make sure that Sophia and Carl were still occupied with Amy, she headed after him.

As she approached him, she tried to make noise to keep from surprising him, but he didn't acknowledge her at all. He was sitting at the edge of a small pier, legs dangling and head down.

"Daryl?" she said quietly.

"Yeah. What?" he said impatiently.

"I was just coming to check on you, make sure you didn't need anything." She said timidly.

"Don't need shit, just some damn quiet for a change." He snapped.

"I'm sorry, I just haven't had a chance to talk to you lately. If you need anything, please let me know. I'll leave you be now."

**Daryl POV**

He wanted to let her go, knew he needed to but something made him stop her.

"No. You ain't a bother." He said with a sigh.

He wanted to be alone, but he felt bad about how he'd been treating her lately. At least without Merle around, he could be civil without getting shit about it later.

"If you're sure." She said and walked down to the end and sat beside him on the pier.

He could feel the warmth of her body as she sat down, their arms almost touching. It took everything he had not to jerk away.

They sat there together for a while, the silence bordering on awkward, but neither really knowing what they should say. He really wasn't the talking type, never thought it was necessary to say ten words when two would do, but he was a little curious about her, so he decided to breach the quiet.

"So, you and the kid doing alright?" he asked.

"As good as we can do at this point I guess. Sophia is a resilient kid, thank God. It's nice that she's found a friend in Carl and Eliza. She wasn't really allowed to be around other children before." She said quietly.

"Wasn't allowed?" he asked, shocked. His home life sucked as a kid, but he didn't have a shortage of kids to run around and get into trouble with. Hell his father was happy to have him out of the house as much as possible.

"No, Ed preferred her to be homeschooled, and we didn't have any family around, so it was just the three of us most of the time." She said sadly.

Listening to her talk and seeing the tears in her eyes made Daryl want to bring the son of a bitch back and kill him, this time with his own hands and slowly. As he felt himself getting angrier he was finding it hard to sit still. He needed to go kill something.

Jumping up, he almost knocked her into the water, barely managing to grab her arm to steady her before she could fall.

"Damn, sorry 'bout that." He said quickly, helping her to her feet.

She was just standing there staring at him, just as he was about to apologize again, he realized he hadn't let go of her arm. Why couldn't he make himself let her go?

His arm tingled and his palms were sweaty. _What the fuck? _he thought and finally let her go. Her eyes followed his hand to his side as if she wasn't sure what just happened.

Raising her eyes, a small smile on her face. "You're making a habit of that, don't you think?" she said.

"Habit? Of what?" he said.

"Saving me. Thank you Daryl." She said and walked away with a small pat on his arm as she passed him.

He stood there, watching her walk away, utterly baffled by what just happened, but he sure did like her smile.

**Well there you go. Hopefully you like this one. This one is kind of like the calm before the storm. I plan to start ramping up the action and we're going to get a little more AU. I hope to get the next chapter up by Saturday. In the meantime, please let me know what you think and what you would like to see happen. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here it is. It's a little longer than normal, but there's quite a bit of dialogue from "Tell it to the Frogs". It's not word for word (my memory isn't that good), but I think it's pretty close, but with a twist or two. Things are changing, and I hope you guys like where I go with it. Enjoy! **

**P.S. Thanks so much for all of your reviews and follows. I've been so flippin' busy lately I haven't been able to respond but please believe that I am so thankful. I will try to do better going forward.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it, and I'm definitely not making any money from it, but I do get to think of Norman Reedus a lot, which is all the pay I really need. **

The next day or so was tense. They were expecting the group to be back by now. Glen had warned them all that the city was dangerous and getting worse all the time. More and more walkers on the streets and there were less supplies readily available. Daryl spent most of his time on the outskirts of the camp, keeping his distance, but close enough to keep an eye on most everybody. Finally after the second day with no word, he pulled Shane aside and told him that he was going hunting, at least for the night. Food was already low when the group left, but now they were down to almost nothing. Shane assured him that they would be fine and that he should go, but not to be gone too long if he could help it. They both knew what was unsaid. Daryl needed to be there when Merle got back, he was the only one that could keep him under control. Daryl just nodded and headed off to grab his gear. He did make a point to glance around for Carol, contemplating saying goodbye, but she was down by the water with Lori and Jacqui. There was no damn way he was gonna let the others see how much of a pussy Carol made him, so he grabbed his shit and took off.

About an hour later, Carol climbed the hill carrying clean clothes to hang on the lines they had put up. Glancing over at the Dixons' tent, she noticed that Daryl's pack and bow were gone. Looking around, she saw that he was nowhere to be found. Trying to swallow the dread she began hanging clothes, all the time glancing around hoping he would pop up. When she was done and he still hadn't shown up, she went to Shane. Shane told her that he went hunting and would be back in the morning by the latest.

Sighing, she walked back to her tent. She didn't like that he took off on his own like that. All the other times, he and Merle were together, and she knew that they would take care of each other, but now he didn't have anyone there to watch his back. _God Carol, you're not his mother. He's a big boy, just let it go already! _ No, she most definitely wasn't his mother, but she just felt this strange connection to him and she didn't know how to react to it. Especially when he tended to keep her at arm's length most times anyway. Strangely enough, he was always there when she most needed it though.

For the rest of the morning, Carol busied herself, straightening the tent and keeping an eye on the kids while Amy taught them how to play gin rummy with an old pack of cards Dale had dug out of his RV. She was just starting to pull clothes off the line when she heard a loud shrieking noise making it's way up the road.

Shane scramble to the edge of the road and Dale was trying to see what was coming.

"Can you see what it is?" Shane asked Dale, gripping his shotgun.

"I'll be damned. Stolen car is my guess." Dale said, lowering his binoculars.

"Are they back?" Amy asked running to see.

As the car made it up to the camp, they watched Glen climb out of the car.

"Holy crap! Turn that damn thing off!" Dale shouted.

"I don't know how!" Glen shouted, trying to be heard over the loud car alarm.

Rolling his eyes, Jim, ran up and popped the hood of the trunk and promptly disconnected the battery and the alarm stopped.

"Where is she? Is she OK?" Amy yelled, looking for his sister.

"She's fine!" Glen assured her. "Everybody is. Well, Merle not so much."

"Are you crazy driving this squeelin' bastard up here? You tryin' to drawl every walker for miles?" Shane snapped.

"I think we're OK." Dale said.

"You call bein' stupid OK?" Shane asked, eyeing Glen.

"That alarm was echoing all over these hills, it'd be hard to pinpoint where it was coming from." Dale said. "I'm not arguing, just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things over a little more carefully next time would it? Dale scolded, turning to Glen.

"Sorry." Glen said. "Got a cool car." He mumbled softly.

Just then everyones head turned to the truck making its way towards them.

Amy jumped as she saw Andrea jump out of the truck and they embraced, and Morales jumped out and made his way to his family.

"You all are a welcome sight, we were beginning to think we'd lost you." Dale said, hugging Morales.

"What happened anyway?" Shane asked.

"New guy." Glen said with a grin. "He got us out."

"New guy?" Shane asked, looking around.

"Yeah, crazy guy just got into town." Morales said. "Hey helicopter boy! Come say hello."

They all turned around and watched as a man in a police uniform climbed out of the drivers seat of the truck.

"Guys a cop, like you." Morales said to Shane.

Everybody watched as Shane went pale, and the man stopped in his tracks as he saw Shane, and then his eyes were trained behind Shane.

Lori and Carl, noticing the silence, glanced up and they both froze. Suddenly the man was running towards Carl and Lori and Carl was running straight into his arms, Lori following behind to join them.

"Dad! Dad!" Carl screamed. The man grabbed him and then Lori and pulled them into him.

Carol smiled. This must be her husband. Had to be. As she watched Shane, she wasn't exactly sure how he felt about the man's appearance. Weren't they supposed to be best friends? Then she thought back to all the times Lori and Shane had disappeared together in the last week or so. This situation could become volatile if they didn't watch it. Speaking of volatile, it hit her what Glen said about everyone but Merle being OK.

Pulling Glen aside, she asked him.

"Later." He said trying to brush her off.

"No, not later, now. Is Merle dead?"

"I don't know OK, we had to leave him." Glen said.

"You had to leave him? OK, explain." Carol demanded.

Surprised at her forcefulness, he sat down and explained the basics of what happened.

"We'll talk it all over with the group tonight." Glen said. "Let's let Rick get settled with his family, OK?"

Letting the family spend time together, everyone else began unloading the supplies.

Later that night, they all sat around the fire, and Rick explained to them what happened and how he came to be in the city where Glen and the others ran into him.

All Carol could think about was Merle and Daryl. She was happy for Lori and Carl, and even intrigued by Rick. He had an air about him, trustworthy and honorable. Shane seemed a little happier to see him now, but as she listened to Rick tell his story, there was a look in Shane's eyes that she couldn't quite identify. It caused a shiver to run straight up her spine.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your story. Not that I'm not happy you are here, Rick, but we really need to talk about what happened with Merle, before Daryl get's back." Carol said.

"He went nuts." T-Dog said. "We were stuck up on the roof of a building downtown. He started just goin' off on me. When we tried to calm him down, he just attacked me. He threw my ass down, and I knocked my head on a pipe on the roof. He started on a power trip, trying to get everyone to agree that he needed to be in charge now. Rick took him down, cuffed him to a pipe. When shit started goin' down and we were tryin' to get out of there Rick gave me the keys to let him loose, and I dropped them. Right down the damn drain. I had to leave him. We really didn't have a choice."

"Have you guys given any thought about how Daryl's going to react?" Dale asked. "He's not going to be happy you all left him behind."

"I'll tell him." Shane said.

"Nah, I dropped the key, it's on me." T-Dog said.

"I cuffed him, that makes him mine." Rick said.

"Guys. It's not a competition. Merle was out of control up there. I don't mean to bring race into this but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glen said.

"I did what I did. I ain't gonna hide from it." T-Dog said staring into the campfire.

"No, I'll tell him." Carol piped up, surprising everyone. "He's going to want to go back for him though, so you all might want to be prepared for that."

"He's going to have to understand that Merle was out of control and everyone there just did what was necessary." Andrea said, holding on to her sister. "It's no one's fault but Merles."

"I wouldn't say it like that to Daryl if I were you, Carol." Dale said, smirking. "I doubt very seriously, he'll react rationally to that."

"Well we better figure it out. He'll be back in the morning." Shane said.

"Word to the wise," Dale said, "we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back."

"I was scared and I ran, nothin' much else I can say." T-Dog said. "I stopped long enough to chain the door, keep the walkers out. Ain't no way enough of 'em could get up there to break the door and the chain. He's gotta still be alive and stuck on the roof. That's on all of us." He said getting up and walking towards his tent.

Carol watched him walk away. She could tell he felt bad. The man had a good heart. She was telling the truth when she said she knew that Daryl would want to go back for his brother. She hoped that T-Dog would go with him. If he had a hand in saving Merle, there might still be a chance of peace within the group.

Everyone seemed to go silent after that. None of them were looking forward to the inevitable scene tomorrow, least of all Carol, so she carefully nudged Sophia who was dozing on her shoulder and they headed to bed.

As morning came, Daryl was slowly making his way back from camp. He had a pretty good hunt in the short time he was able to be gone. He had to take a few geeks down, but otherwise, it was good. He felt a little more at peace. He was just coming up to camp when he spotted a deer just at the edge of the tree line. Scanning the area carefully seeing no one in the area, he took the shot. His first shot hit it in the hind end, so he took another and it buried itself right in the chest. _Kill shot, _he thought, smiling. _This'll feed 'em all for a while."_

Climbing up the last ridge to collect his kill, he stopped short. A whole group of 'em were crowded around his kill and Shane had a shotgun pointed at him.

As soon as Shane realized who it was he dropped the gun and Daryl looked down to see a dead walker laying beside the deer.

"Son of a bitch! That's my deer! Look at it all chewed up by this filthy, disease bearin', motherless, bastard!" Daryl yelled kicking the walkers remains.

"Calm down, son, that's not helping." Dale said.

"What do you know about it old man?" Daryl shouted in Dales face.

Walking back over to his deer, he scanned the remains. Sighing he pulled his arrows out of his prey. "Was plannin' on dragging it back to camp, cook us some venison. You think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"Don't think we can risk that." Shane said, shot gun slung across his shoulders.

"It's a damn shame. Got some squirell, about a dozen or so." He said proudly. "That'll have to do." With that he took off towards the camp. "Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here. Got us some squirrel!"

Carol stepped up and pulled Daryl aside.

"Daryl, Merle's not here." She said quietly.

"What do you mean he's not here! He take off lookin' for me or somethin'?" Daryl asked.

"No. There was an incident in the city. They were forced to leave him there." Carol said.

"He dead?" he asked.

"We don't know Daryl. I'm sorry."

"He's either dead or he ain't! What the fuck?" he said, getting in Carol's face.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick said stepping in.

Daryl whirled around to face the stranger. "Who the hell are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Well Rick Grimes, you got something you wanna tell me?" Daryl said.

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him to the roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Rubbing his face, "Hold on, let me process this. You handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?" He yelled.

"Yeah." Rick said dropping his head.

Suddenly, with a burst of energy, Daryl jumped at Rick and Shane blocked him, knocking Daryl to the ground. Daryl pulled his knife and was back on his feet, ready to lunge at Rick. Again, Shane intervened, pulling him into a headlock.

"Let me go!" Daryl shouted.

"I think it's better if I don't." Shane said still holding him tight.

Rick kneeled down in front of Daryl. "I'd like to have a calm conversation. Do you think we can manage that? Do you?" He asked Daryl.

As Daryl's breathing calmed, Shane let him go.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick told him.

"It's not Rick's fault." T-Dog jumped in. "I had the key, I dropped it."

"What you couldn't pick it up?" Daryl shot.

"I dropped it in a drain." T-Dog said.

"If all this shit is supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at 'em, with a padlock." T-Dog tried to assure him.

"That's gotta count for somethin'. "Rick said.

Daryl looked down, wiping his face again. He couldn't believe this shit. Those fuckers just left him.

"Hell with all ya'll! Just tell me where he is, so's I can go get him!" Daryl yelled.

"They'll show you, won't you guys?" Carol said jumping in. "Daryl, they really didn't mean any harm. I told them last night that we couldn't leave him there. I think they agree. Don't you?" She said, looking towards Rick and T-Dog.

"Yeah, I'm goin' back. We'll get your brother and the weapons I dropped." Rick said. "I'm not gonna let a man die of thirst and exposure. It ain't right. Everything that was done on that roof was done in the heat of the moment. When I cuffed him to that roof, I had no intention of leaving him there, Daryl. It was just to calm the situation and keep more people from gettin' hurt. He attacked T-Dog, damn near knocked his head off and would have kept coming at him and the others if I hadn't done what I did. I don't regret stopping him, but I do regret having to leave him."

"So, you and Daryl, that's your plan?" Lori said, almost sounding sarcastic.

"Well," Rick said, and turned to look at Glen.

"Aw c'mon." Glen said.

"Look, I know it's not fair of me to ask, I know that. Glen, you know the way there, and you said so yourself, you been there before, in and out, no problem. It'll make Lori feel a lot better too."

"That's just great, now you gonna risk three lives, goin' after that douchebag? Shane snapped.

"Four. I'm part of the reason he's there." T-Dog shot.

"Well my day just keeps gettin' better." Daryl chuckled, as he cleaned his arrows. "Well if we're all settled, lets get our asses goin'. We ain't got all day."

Daryl walked away towards his tent, intended on grabbing more arrows, and he could hear Lori, Rick, and Shane arguing about him leavin' to get Merle. He didn't notice the little girl sitting there until he was almost on top of his tent.

"Whatya doin' here?" He said, a little startled to see her. She'd never spoken to him, nor he to her.

"I'm sorry about your brother." She said. "I just wanted to say I hope you get him back."

What in the world was he supposed to say to that? What made her all of a sudden come over here in his space, chatterin' away? Since she had her mama's eyes he couldn't bring himself to snap at her and tell her it wasn't any of her damn business.

"We will." He said.

"I hope so. He acts all scary, kinda like you, but I think he's good. You two saved me and my mama, you gotta be good." With that she walked away.

He watched as she walked away, heading straight towards her mother. He watched as Carol bent down and Sophia whispered in her ear. Raising her head, she looked at Daryl and their eyes met. She bent down and spoke softly to her daughter and pointed towards Lori and Carl, and the little girl made her way towards them and Carol walked to Daryl.

"I'm sorry if she bothered you. She's just worried about you and your brother." Carol said.

"Why the hell does she care?" Daryl asked.

"Why shouldn't she?" She asked.

"We ain't nothin' to her, and Merle's a mean bastard. I ain't dumb enough to put all the blame on the others. I was afraid somethin' like this would happen if he went out there with 'em. The way he acts, she should be scared as hell of him, be happy he didn't come back."

"Your brother has issues, we can all see that, but see, Sophia and I have another perspective. We can tell when someone is really bad deep down inside. We lived with one of those kind of people for years. She knows the same thing I do, no matter how hard the two of you try not to show it. You're good men and this group will never make it through this hell without you, especially Sophia and I. So, go get your brother and come back. We not only want you here, we need you here."

Daryl just stood there in shock, watching her walk away. His feet stuck in the same spot until Rick yelled that they were ready to go. He grabbed his stuff and walked to the truck, not taking his eyes off Carol and Sophia until he got in the truck and they were on their way.

**Well there you go. I wasn't planning on having this one up quite so soon, but it kind of flowed. I hope that's a good thing ****. I already started on the next chapter, so hopefully it will be up in the next day or so. Thanks for reading and pleeeeease review! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's our next chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews and follows, it really encourages me to get these chapters done quickly. Please forgive any errors. I have no beta and spell check is almost worthless when you're throwing in a southern accent in there :) I try to read it through, and hopefully I catch most of the worst. By the way, the M rating is for really really bad language for right now, though there may be some Caryl sexytime in the future! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it, unless you count the DVD's.**

Fuckin' Rick, fuckin' T-Dog, and goddamn fuckin' Merle! That stupid son of a bitch cut his own hand off. He shoulda' known Daryl wouldn't just leave his sorry ass there. Why the hell didn't he just wait? Now, after runnin' all over the fuckin' city getting the guns and rescuin' Glens ass from wannabe gangsters protectin' little blue haired ole ladies, their truck was gone. Now they were stuck hoofin' it all the way back to camp in the fuckin' dark. They ran as hard as they could, all hoping to make it back to camp in one piece. Daryl's mind was racing. Where did Merle go? Is he the one who took their ride? If so, was he going back to camp too, and what kind of damage would he do before they made it back? He could see Merle headin' straight up to the camp and raisin' holy hell with the rest, but he could also see him takin' off the other way, sayin' to hell with 'em all. Part of him was ashamed to admit that he hoped Merle just decided to cut his losses and take off. As long as his brother was OK, he could make peace with that.

* * *

Meanwhile, Carol was back at camp staring at the road, willing the white truck to appear. She had given up any pretense of doing anything else two hours ago and just sat with the kids and stared. At the beginning Lori sat with her, but as time wore on, Lori seemed to get angrier and angrier until she finally stomped off leaving Carol with the kids.

Finally she saw it, but something wasn't right. It was weaving back and forth as it traveled up the road. Coming around the last curve, she watched the truck leave the road, tipping on it's side.

"Shane! Dale! They're back, but something's wrong!" She yelled as she ran towards the truck, not waiting for anyone to follow.

As she approached the truck, she realized she didn't see anyone in it. Running around, she wrenched open the driver's door. Merle was passed out on his side, bleeding profusely. She gasped as she saw that he was missing a hand. She climbed into the truck, trying to feel for a pulse, praying that he was still alive. It was weak but she could feel the slow, thready beat of his pulse. Behind her, she heard everyone running to join her.

"Shane! He needs help! We have to get him back to camp! There's so much blood!" she cried.

"Hell with him, where the hell are the others? They took this truck to get him and now he shows up in it alone? He coulda' killed 'em for all we know!" Shane yelled.

"Well, the only way we'll know for sure is to keep him alive! Help me! I'll take care of him, but we have to get him back to camp and stop this blood flow. His pulse is already weak, and if I can't stop the bleeding very soon, we'll never know what happened to him or anyone else. Please just help me get him back? I'll take full responsibility for him!" Carol pleaded, ripping off the bottom of her shirt and applying it firmly to Merle's stump.

Pushing through the crowd, Morales gently pushed Carol out of the way and began to pull Merle out of the truck and with Jim's help they carried him to camp.

Sitting down in the Dixon tent, Carol sighed with relief. She had finally stopped the bleeding and he seemed to have stabilized. His pulse was much stronger and his breathing much calmer. She really wasn't sure what she would be able to do for him, but she had to try. She had to know what happened to Daryl and the others, and she hoped that this was the man with all of those answers. She also knew that she had to do this for Daryl. Remembering the pain on his face when he she told him that Rick and the others left him behind in Atlanta gave her all the inspiration she needed to help him.

She had found a large bag of drugs tucked away inside a pillow case and found a large supply of pain killers and antibiotics, along with other things she tried to ignore. As soon as he woke up, she would get him to take a painkiller or two and an antibiotic to head off any infection. Until then, she would just sit and watch over him until he woke.

Shane and Dale had both checked in with her several times. Dale seemed to genuinely care about Merle's welfare but Shane on the other hand looked disappointed when she told him that Merle was doing better. She wondered what was going through his mind. Did he just want Merle dead, or did he really not want to know where Rick was?

She sat there watching him, praying that he would wake up soon. Not just for his sake but for everyone's. She never really noticed the similarities between the brothers but now with Merle asleep, with his guard completely down, she could see. They had the same shape nose, though Merle's was a little larger, and the same cheekbones. Leaning closer, she ran a hand softly over his cheek, a small smile on her face. He would get better, he had to.

* * *

When he began to awake, all he heard was the sound of crickets and someone else breathing. Whoever it was, they were close, so he kept his eyes closed, trying to figure out where he was and what was going on. The next thing he noticed was pain. Horrible, excrutiating pain. Then he remembered.

His hand. He had to cut off his hand to get off the roof those mother fuckers left him on. He remembered laying there almost out of his mind from thirst and it was so hot he could barely stand it. He could hear the geeks trying to get through the rooftop door and he knew no one was going to save Merle but Merle. So he pulled his belt off and used it to pull the saw close enough to grab and he took his own hand off. He made it through the building, bleeding profusely, killing geeks with his good hand and whatever he could get his hand on. He found a back door to the building and made it outside, sticking to alleys until he made it to the edge of town and then he saw his way out. The truck they came in, parked on the railroad tracks. He didn't remember them leaving it there, but chalking it up to blood loss, he jumped in and headed straight back to camp.

Just as the pain was getting too much, he felt someone move closer, and then he felt a hand softly caress his cheek. Popping open his eyes, he started to reach for the hand and felt a pain run straight up his arm.

"Merle! You're awake! It's Carol, can you hear me?"

"Ain't deaf woman." He said with a raspy voice. "I made it back?"

"Barely. How's your pain? I have something for it if you need."

"Cut off my own damn hand, what do you think?"

"You cut it off?" she gasped in horror.

"Story time later, lady, drugs now!" he said, getting a little louder.

"Oh! I'm so sorry." She said, and turned around reaching for the bottle of vicodin and doxyclycline she had pulled from the bag. Grabbing a bottle of water, she shook two pain killers out and an antibiotic and motioned for him to sit up a little. "I found these in the tent, I don't know if they are yours or Daryl's but they are all we have."

"Not much I can do about it now huh? Woulda' had to tell you where they were anyways." He said taking the pills and swallowing them gratefully.

"Merle, can you tell me what happened?" Carol asked carefully.

"Later. Need ya to get my brother. Gotta talk to him." He said.

"Merle, he's not here. He went after you. Rick, Glen, and T-Dog went with him. They never meant to leave you there. They took the truck you showed up in."

"You mean to tell me, my little brothers stuck in that town because of me?" Merle asked.

"They came back yesterday without you. When he came back, they explained to him what happened. He insisted they go back and get you. They left early this morning. We were expecting them back hours ago." Carol said sadly.

"When I saw the truck just parked there I thought the bastards that left me on that roof just didn't make it out of town. I come up here to get Daryl. We're better off on our own."

"Will you be OK on your own for a little while. I need to let the others know." Carol said softly.

Merle just nodded and closed his eyes.

Stepping out of the tent, she almost ran straight into Shane.

"Well, he dead yet?" Shane asked.

"No, he's awake." Carol scolded.

Shane started to push passed her but she put her hand on his chest and pushed back. "He doesn't know what happened to the others. He thought they never made it back from their first trip. He saw the truck and came straight here, trying to make it to his brother. There's nothing else he can tell us. Just leave him be, he needs rest. Badgering him isn't going to do any of us any good."

"He's lying! Ain't no way he don't know what happened to the others." Shane shot at her.

"Shane, he's not, I swear. He was shocked that his brother wasn't here, and devastated that he might have left him stranded in Atlanta. Merle is a hard man, but that almost broke him. He cut off his own hand to get free and his only thought was to get off that roof and get his brother. Give him a break. What we need to concentrate on now is not Merle, it's how to find Daryl, Rick, T-Dog, and Glen. Go talk to the others. Send Sophia to me, we'll keep an eye on him, not that he's in any shape to cause trouble."

Without waiting on a response, she ducked her head and went back into the tent.

"Didn't figure you'd be back." Merle said softly.

"Why wouldn't I? I told you I would." Carol said.

"Can't tell ya nothin' else. Ya don't need me no more."

Carol shook her head. What these two men must have gone through in their life to have such a low opinion of themselves? "Merle, I didn't help you, because we need you, I helped you because you needed help."

"Bullshit." He whispered. He didn't have time for this woman's shit. He was tired, just wanted to sleep.

She watched his eyes get heavy. "It's OK, you sleep. Sophia and I will keep watch over you. Shane and the others will get your brother back." She said as Sophia entered the tent.

Merle just sat there silently, and then shook his head. He knew as soon as he was out, they'd leave him. Just like everyone else, just like Daryl.

* * *

Daryl and the others ran until they couldn't run anymore. They finally made it to the road leading up to their quarry and had to stop and catch their breath. Walking now, they slowly made their way up the road. Then they heard the screams.

When they made it up the hill what confronted them was utter chaos. Lori and Carl were behind Shane and Carol as they tried to take out whatever walkers came towards them. Jim and Morales were in the middle of camp trying to defend Andrea as she sat by a fallen Amy, oblivious of everything going on around her.

Pulling out his bow, Daryl got busy taking down the geeks swarming the camp. He tried to yell a warning as a walker came up behind Jim but he was too late and he watched as it took a bite out of Jims neck. Letting the arrow loose, he hit the walker right between it's ugly, bloodshot eyes. He watched as Jim and the walker both fell in a heap on the ground.

A few more shots and then the camp was suddenly eerily quiet. Everyone was still alert looking around for any more stragglers. It looked like they had gotten them all, but not without major losses. As far as he could tell, they lost Amy, Jim, and he saw Jacqui on the ground by the dying campfire, most certainly dead as well.

He was surveying the damage when Carol suddenly shoved her gun into Shane's hands and ran towards his tent, and he followed, puzzled.

"Sophia!" she cried.

God, no, not the little girl, he thought.

Carol entered the tent and he followed, stunned with what he saw. Merle was sitting up knife in hand, geek at his feet and Sophia behind him. Merle was clearly trying to shield the little girl with his own body, ready to attack whatever came near them.

"What the fuck? How'd you get here, and what's the girl doin' in here?"

Merle never had a chance to answer as Carol pulled him and Sophia into a hug. "Thank you so much. You protected my baby."

"Wasn't nothin', quit fussin' lady." Merle mumbled, trying to push her away with one hand.

"It was everything." She said. Turning to Daryl, "I'm so glad you are back, we were worried when Merle showed up here on his own."

Merle shook his head. "Thought I'd stranded ya there when she told me ya'll went back for me."

"Ya did, ya stupid fucker. Why didn't ya just wait? You shoulda' known I'd come back for ya."

"Now, how the hell would I have known that, huh? Figured they'd just tell ya I was dead. You woulda' moved on with your life, happy to be rid of my ass."

"Goddammit Merle! You should know…"

"Now, both of you stop it!" Carol yelled jumping in between the two men. "This isn't the time for this. We just lost people, and we were so close to losing you both. It's not the time for this. Sophia let's go."

After Carol left, Daryl just plopped himself on the ground. The adrenaline rush he got when they heard the screams and came upon the camp was gone. He didn't have any fight left in him.

"Well little brother, guess she told us, huh?" Merle chuckled.

Twisting his head, he looked at his brother, a little shocked. No one ever told Merle what to do, so why was he just laughing about it now?

"Little mouses' got some spunk, the little one too. Shoulda heard the little one in here, wantin' to go out there to her mama. Took everything I had to keep her in here. She's just like her mama. Never woulda' thought, after seein' her take a beatin' that first night."

"Shoulda seen her out there takin' out the geeks. Holdin' a gun like she grew up killin'. Don't think she missed a shot. She leave the girl in here with you on purpose?"

"Well why the hell not, can take care of myself. Ya think I can't take care of a little thing like her? Only had ta take out one of them fuckers."

"Just surprised is all. Ya ain't exactly in good shape," Daryl said, nodding his head at Merle's bandages.

"Shoulda seen me 'fore that one fixed me up. Crashed the damn truck up the road before I even made it here. Next damn thing I know, I'm wakin' up here, all fixed up and she's hands me painkillers. She's the damndest thing I ever seen."

Daryl silently agreed. This is the brother he missed, the one that he grew up with. If only he could keep this one around, they might have a chance to stick together and make it through this hell.

"I swear brother, I came back for ya. That's why I was here. Didn't know you'd come back to get me."

Daryl nodded his head. Wasn't no point in fighting anymore. He was tired and he could see Merles eye lids drooping.

"Get some rest, I'm gonna get out there and see what needs to be done, and then I'll be back to get some shut eye too. They can keep watch tonight, think we've had a long enough day."

Merle didn't even argue, but murmured "Was gonna come back and get ya, talk ya into leavin'. Guess we better come up with another plan huh?"

"Yeah, think so, brother. Get some sleep."

**Well there ya go. Wondering how many of you guys expected that? When I saw the first season, I really expected Merle to show back up at the camp, so I decided I would make it happen. I have to say, I like Merle. I think when he's not wasted, he's probably not that bad of a guy. I think he's just alot like Daryl but older and meaner. He grew up abused like his brother, but he's quite a bit older so he's had more time to build up strong walls that bite when anyone tries to get close :). He's not gonna be all sweet and cuddly, but I'm thinking a couple of girls might make it through some of those walls of his! Let's hope. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review and let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's another one for you. It's longer, but there's quite a bit of dialogue from TS-19 so I wanted to make up for that. Please forgive any mistakes, I still have no beta, and I was interrupted at least 10 times while trying to write this. If it seems a little choppier than normal, we'll just blame that :) I hope you enjoy, there's a little Caryl goodness for ya!**

The next few days were hard for everyone. They mourned for those they lost and buried them with as much respect as they could with the limited time they had. Andrea spent several hours at her dead sisters' side, holding her hand and ignoring everyone who came to talk to her, or in Rick's case, shoved a gun in his face, when he mentioned that they were going to have to take her away. In the end, Andrea was forced to put her sister down when she rose the next afternoon. Rick and T-Dog took care of Jim and Jacqui and personally buried them. They all wondered individually if this was just a glimpse of what the future held for them.

The whole group agreed they couldn't stay at the quarry much longer, but there were many disagreements as to where they should go. Morales and his family had already taken off in search of family they hoped were still in Birmingham. Rick wanted to head to the CDC, thinking that surely there were doctors hard at work on a cure. Shane insisted that they should head south to Fort Benning where hopefully the military would have some kind of shelter set up. Daryl and Merle thought they would be better off staying away from any population, laying low in the woods and looking for sturdy structures far off the highways.

Carol thought it was strangely funny how each person chose what fit their personality. Rick, the kind, but strong leader wanted to fix everything, while the aggressive Shane tended towards military options, and the Dixon brothers wanted to stick to what they knew best, the Georgia countryside. Personally, she agreed with Daryl and Merle. There was no guarantee that anyone could help them at the CDC or Fort Benning, but they could surely help themselves, and the woods would always be there. She dreamed they could find a large farm somewhere, just like the one she grew up on. They could build fences or reinforce what was already there. They would never be short of food, because they could grow or kill their own. If they stuck to the main roads and cities, they would be forced to put themselves in so much more danger with no guarantee that they would find the supplies they needed.

In the end, majority ruled and they decided to go to the CDC. She was surprised after the decision was made that Daryl and Merle stuck with the group. She could tell Merle wasn't happy at all. Actually everyone could, he wasn't exactly good at keeping his feelings a secret, but he never once mentioned them taking off on their own like he did the night he came back to camp. Secretly she was thrilled they were sticking around. She felt that she and her daughter were much safer when they were around.

After packing everything they could fit in the vehicles they had enough fuel to fill, they were on the road. The CDC was located on the other side of Atlanta so they all kept to the back roads to avoid traffic snarls and the heavier population. Surprisingly, they were able to make it there with little problems. Pulling up as close to the building as they could, they slowly made their way to what looked like a loading dock area. The whole area looked like long forgotten war zone. Bodies were piled everywhere and the stench and flies were almost unbearable. Shane and Rick tried all the doors as Daryl and and T-Dog took out the walkers that approached. Rick tried to force the doors open and started banging as hard as he could, convinced that someone had to be there, but there was no answer.

"There's nobody here!" T-Dog said.

"Then why are these shutters all down?" Rick asked.

"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl shouted after taking out another walker drawn in by Rick's pounding on the metal doors.

"C'mon babe, let's just go." Lori said, putting a hand on Rick's shoulder.

"He made a call!" Shane said, defending Rick.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Merle shouted.

"Shut the fuck up, both or ya! Rick, this is a dead end, man. You hear me? No one's blamin' ya.

"Where are we going to go?" Carol asked, pulling Sophia into her side.

"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city at dark." Lori said, trying to pull Rick away.

"Fort Benning is still an option, Rick." Shane reminded him.

"On what, we don't have enough fuel for that, it's over 100 miles." Andrea said.

"125, I checked." Glenn said.

"We'll think of something. Let's just go man. Please?" Shane pleaded.

Just as he begins to turn around, Rick see the camera move, following their movements.

"The camera," Rick said pointing, "it moved.

"It's dead man. It's just an automated device, winding down. Come on! This place is dead, let's just go!

Rick starts banging on the doors again, and starts screaming straight into the camera. "I know you're in there! I know you can hear me! Please, we're desperate. We have women and children, no food, hardly any gas left. We have nowhere else to go."

"Rick, honey, there's no one here." Lori said, again trying to pull him back in the direction of their vehicles.

"You're killing us! If you don't let us in, you're killing us!" he screamed.

Finally giving up, he turned around and started to run back to the vehicles with the rest of the group and the doors open.

They all rushed back to the doors, watching them rise, the light from inside the building, almost blinding them. Running into the building and quickly shutting the doors behind them, they all looked around at the immaculate building lobby.

A man appeared at the foot of a set of stairs carrying an assault rifle. "Anybody infected?"

"No." Rick said.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man asked.

"A chance." Rick said, slowly lowering his shotgun.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man said.

"We know." Rick confirmed.

Taking a look at the group crowded into the lobby, he demanded they all submit to a blood test if they wanted to enter. Rick and the others readily agreed.

"You have anything you need, you bring it in now. Once these doors close, they won't be opened again."

Once they all returned, carrying what they could, he sealed the main entrance.

"Rick Grimes." Rick said putting out his hand.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner." The doctor said, shaking it.

Once they all loaded up into the large elevator he pulled them into, he pressed the button that would take them underground into their labs.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked.

Dr. Jenner just smiled, "There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. Most of you look harmless enough. Except you." He said, nodding at Carl. "I'm gonna have to keep my eye on you."

Carl smiled, and Lori ruffled his hair.

The rest of the ride down was silent, most of the group just taking a deep breath, feeling safe for the first time in a long time.

Except Carol. She was having a hard time keeping it together. She didn't like enclosed spaces and being jammed into this elevator, knowing they were moving farther and farther underground, she was about to lose it. Holding on to Sophia, she tried to steady her hands, but Merle noticed. She was pale as a ghost and sweat steadily running down her temple.

As they stepped out, Merle, placed his good hand on Carol's shoulder. "Hey Doc, we underground?"

"You claustrophobic?" he asked.

"Little." He said, glancing at Carol.

"Try not to think about it." The doctor said as they walked down a long highway that ended with a large room full of screens and computers. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room. Welcome to Zone 5."

"Where is everybody?" Rick asked. "All the doctors, the staff?"

"I'm it, it's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori asked.

"Vi, say hello to our guests." Dr. Jenner said. "Tell them welcome."

"Hello guests, welcome." A computer voice stated.

"I'm all that's left." Dr. Jenner stated. "I'm sorry. Let's head to this lab to the left, get those blood tests done. I've already broken every rule in the book letting you all in here, let me at least be thorough.

They all took their turns, giving blood, everything going smoothly until it was Merle's turn.

"Woah. What's that?" Dr. Jenner said, pointing to Merle's bandaged stump. "I thought you said no one was infected. It's that a bite?"

"Nah Doc, all self inflicted. Scouts honor." Merle said.

"Self-inflicted? Why would you do this to yourself?" Dr. Jenner asked incredulously.

"If you wanna call gettin' handcuffed to a roof and havin' to cut if off to get free truly doin' it to myself." Merle said glaring at Rick.

"How long has it been since this happened?" the doctor asked.

"Two days or so." Merle said.

"OK then, I'll take the least amount of blood I can. I imagine you lost quite a bit of blood."

"You imagine right Doc, but I ain't a pussy. You take what you need." Merle said.

"Don't worry, I'll take enough."

Finally, getting his samples, he placed them in the tray to be tested later. He wasn't truly worried about them being infected. There were no signs of fever or pain and the only obvious injury in the group was Merles. He did however notice that several of them became more lightheaded after their blood draw. After Andrea almost passed out, Dale informed him that most of them had not eaten anything in days. Revising his earlier plan to get shit-faced, he decided he could include them in that plan and fill their bellies. They didn't understand that by this time tomorrow, their suffering would be over and this would most definitely be their last supper.

Carol looked around the group and smiled. Everyone was laughing, enjoying the wine and food Dr. Jenner provided. They were so blessed to have found this place.

Passing around the wine bottle, Dale convinced Lori and Carol that the kids should have a little wine as well. She laughed even harder when both children gagged. She watched, realizing this was the first time she had seen Daryl really smile and laugh, completely letting his guard down. Surprisingly, Merle wasn't drinking. He filled his belly with enough food to feed two or three people, but didn't have a sip of wine. Apparently Daryl had decided to drink enough for everyone, and surprisingly was becoming the life of the party. He kept urging Carol to keep drinking and let loose.

Glenn however seemed to be his target tonight. Everytime Glen finished a glass, Daryl was right there to fill it up again.

"Keep drinkin' little man, I wanna see how red your face can get!" Daryl told Glenn. Everybody including Glenn really cracked up then.

Looking around, she noticed Dr. Jenner wasn't joining in and seemed very quiet and Rick had noticed too.

Clinking his glass Rick got everyone's attention. "It seems we haven't thanked our host properly."

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog yelled.

"Thank you." Rick said raising his glass to the doctor.

Everyone raised their glass saluting him as well, and Daryl raised his bottle. "Booyah!"

However, it appeared that Shane was not a happy drunk. "So when you gonna tell us what the hell happened her Doc? All the other doctors who were supposed to be figurin' out what happened. Where are they?"

"Shane, no need to do this now." Rick said.

"Now wait a second Rick, this is why we're here right? This was your move. We're supposed to be here to find out all the answers. Instead we find him. One man. Why?" Shane said looking to Jenner.

Taking a large drink of his wine, finishing off his glass he took a deep breath. "Well when things got bad, some people just left, went off to find their families. When things got worse and the military got overrun, others bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asked.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door, they opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"Why didn't you leave?" Andrea asked.

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good." He replied.

"Dude," Glen said to Shane, "you are such a buzzkill."

Soon after, most everyone wound down, so Jenner showed them where they could settle in for the night.

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing so you'll have to make do here." He said leading them down a hallway with several doorways. "The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy, just don't plug in the video games or anything else that could use power. Same applies, if you shower, go easy on the hot water."

"Hot water?" Glen slurred.

"That's what the man said!" T-Dog smiled.

Carol and Sophia found the rec room and made themselves at home. There were several couches in the room and more books than Carol ever hoped to see after the apocalypse began. Pulling out clothes for herself and her daughter from their meager possessions, she figured she'd wait a little for her shower. To be honest her head was spinning a little and she felt more than a little giddy. Laying down on the couch, she figured she could relax and let her buzz wear off a little.

A tap on her shoulder roused her. She must have fallen asleep. Looking around she realized Sophia wasn't in the room. Instantly she panicked. "Where's Sophia?"

"Relax, Lori took her just a few minutes ago. I saw 'em walkin' out as I was comin' down the hallway. They probably wanted to let ya sleep a little. You ain't stopped since I met ya, you gotta rest sometime." Merle said. "Why don't ya go take that shower. There's an empty one two doors down. Towels all laid out and ready for ya."

"A shower really does sound wonderful right now." She said agreeing with him. Standing up, she swayed a little and he grabbed to steady her.

"Woah now girl, you think you can make it down there. Didn't realize you drank that much earlier."

He was right, she was drunk. She was hoping her little nap would help, but her head was really spinning now.

"Just been a while," she laughed, grabbing the clothes she set aside earlier. "I'll be fine going down the hall."

"Uh huh, just don't be drownin' yourself." He chuckled, watching her totter out.

He plopped himself down, tired, but feeling strangely at peace. He thought about how ironic it was that he felt better now than he had in as long as he could remember. The damn world falling apart around him and missing a hand and he felt good, hell he felt great. When Daryl had told him that he didn't feel like he could count on him anymore it hit a nerve. As he laid on that roof, in between delusions, he replayed that moment over and over in his head. That's what forced him to saw his own damn hand off. He wasn't really scared for himself, but for his brother. He wanted to be the person his little brother could count on again. In his head, he knew that meant no more drugs. None of his precious home-cooked meth, and none of that other shit. He was tempted to have a few drinks when everyone else was havin' such a good time, but he knew it wouldn't end well and he needed to prove to his brother that he could do it.

When he was done showering, he decided to seek him out, but ended up finding Carol asleep on one of the couches in the rec room. She and her daughter were the only people, other than his brother, that treated him like he meant something. She was a smart lady and he couldn't figure out how she ever ended up with a piece of shit like her husband. He found himself glad the bastard was dead. In the few days since his death, she seemed to have found something within herself. Every day she became a little more confident and he knew he wasn't the only one who noticed. Though he tried to hide it, Daryl watched her. Hell, he watched her any chance he got. It was like she was a puzzle she was determined to solve.

He wasn't a damn matchmaker, but he didn't think he would mind seein' his little brother with a woman like her. A sturdy woman with some spunk, who didn't take shit, but wasn't all uppity like that bitch Lori. Yeah, he could see it. Maybe he could give 'em a push every now and then. It'd take a lot more than a few pushes with his brother, but maybe with her newfound confidence a few pushes in Carol's direction might force his brothers' hand a little.

Swaying down the hallway, Daryl was thinking that a shower sounded damn good. He'd only been able to take one really fuckin' cold bath in the quarry in the last week. Grabbing his crap from the corner he stashed it in, he fished out his last clean shirt and pants. Staggering down the hall, he found one of the bathrooms with a shower he saw his brother go into earlier. Soon as he was in, he locked the door and began to strip. He had his shirt off and was pulling his pants off when he heard a gasp and then a little giggle. Grabbing his pants and jerking them back up his hips, he quickly turned around. There stood Carol in a towel, hand over her mouth.

"Ughh, sorry didn't know anyone was in here." Daryl said, turning his head, trying to keep her from seeing him blush.

"It's OK, I was almost done. You can go ahead in, I won't look." Carol said, her face red.

Buttoning up his pants, with his back still turned, he heard her giggle again.

"Whadya laughin' at woman?" Daryl asked, trying to decide if he should be insulted or just laugh with her.

"Ohhh, no, I'm not laughin' at you, just the situashun." She said slurring.

Turning around it dawned on him. "You're drunk aren't ya?"

"Wasn't that the point of fillin' my glass overrr and overrr and overrr…

"OK, I get it. Yeah, wanted ya to get a little wasted. Never seen ya let loose, just wanted to hear ya laugh and see ya smile a little."

"Well misshion accomplished sir." Carol said, swaying as she walked towards him.

Daryl could see the fire in her eyes. He didn't know whether to be scared or happy. Walking towards her, he lightly pushed her against the wall, his body pressed against hers. "I'd say so, lady."

Looking up into his eyes, her brain went blank. His face was so close to hers she could feel his hot breath against her cheek and smell the wine still on both their breath.

They searched each others eyes for what seemed like forever. Both trying to decide if they should walk away or close the distance.

Carol finally made the decision and closed the distance, but their lips met in the middle. Softly at first but as soon as her lips parted and his tongue entered her mouth, there was nothing soft about the kiss. It was like he was trying to find a way to crawl inside her body and he was succeeding. His hands came up to her tracing the top of her towel and her hands had found their way into his back pockets and she was trying to pull him closer.

He felt like he was drowning. He hadn't even made it to the shower but he was drowning. When she pressed her lips against his, he was shocked. When her lips parted and allowed his tongue access, he lost all control. He couldn't seem to get close enough or kiss her deep enough.

Her hands were roaming up his back and into his hair, not thinking about anything but his body and the feel of his mouth on hers.

"Mommy? Where are you?" They both jumped apart and she tightened the towel around herself. He stepped away from the doorway so that Carol could meet Sophia before she came in the door. She was twelve not five, she wouldn't have a hard time figuring out what was going on here if she came inside.

Throwing on her yellow robe hanging on the stall by the door, she met Sophia. "I'm right here baby, just got out of the shower."

"Carl found Monopoly and Ms. Lori said we could play if it was alright with you. Do you wanna play?"

Smiling at her baby girl, "That's fine honey, you two go ahead and play. Let me get dressed, and I'll be in to watch, and maybe you can convince me to be the banker."

"Thank you!" Sophia said hugging her mom.

"Go ahead, I'll be in in just a few minutes." Carol said.

"OK!" Sophia said, skipping away. "Oh, and momma, you can tell Mr. Daryl he can come play too if he wants!" Then she disappeared into the rec room.

Turning around, Carol's mouth was agape and Daryl was chuckling.

"Smart kid." He said.

**Well there ya go, a little drunkeness, a little Merle, a little Caryl sexiness, and a little ornery Sophia. That's gotta be pretty good right? I sure hope you think so! Please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading and please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**You guys are so great! Your reviews have really made a crappy week better! With that said, I'm really sorry for taking so long to update, but it's been a pretty frustrating week. I'm even more sorry that this is so short, and kind of a filler chapter. I promise to have at least one more chapter up this weekend and it will be much more action packed. I hope you forgive me and still read :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my sincere admiration for the mad genius that is Robert Kirkman, and my embarrassingly fangirly crush on Norman Reedus **

The next morning just about everyone was moving slowly. As Carol and Sophia walked into the dining area, they heard Glen moaning and T-Dog chuckling.

"Ugh, don't ever let me drink again." Glen moaned.

"Mornin'." Rick said coming in holding his head.

"Are you hungover? Mom said you would be." Carl said.

"Well, Mom was right." Rick said shooting Lori a look.

"Mom has that annoying habit." Lori said, smiling.

"Eggs!" T-Dog said, working his way around the table, filling plates. "Powdered, but I do 'em gooood. Bet you can't tell. Protein helps the hangover." He said leaning over talking in Glen's ear.

"Where did all this come from?" Rick asked.

"Jenner," Lori said, "he thought we could use it. Some of us at least."

Carol watched everyone hungrily dig in to their breakfast. After last night, she didn't have much of an appetite but she tried to eat a few bites knowing that T-Dog was right. As she was taking the last bite she thought her stomach could take, Shane came in, looking worse than he did last night.

"Hey." Rick said softly, as much for his head as the others'.

"Hey."

"You feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked

"Worse." Shane assured him as he filled a coffee cup and sat down to eat.

"What the hell happened to you? Your neck?" T-Dog asked, pointing at the side of his neck.

"Musta done it in my sleep." Shane said, trying to blow off the question.

"Never seen you do that before." Rick said chuckling.

"Me either. Not like me at all." Shane mumbled.

Little did they know that they were enjoying the last peace they would know for a long time. Everyone started pushing for answers when Dr. Jenner joined them, so he took them to the large room they first saw when they arrived.

Once they were all gathered around the large screen, Jenner began his to tell them everything he had discovered.

Very little, as the group discovered. He wasn't even sure if the virus was microbial, viral, parasitic, or fungal. All he could really tell them was that it attacked the brain like meningitis, causing the adrenal glands to hemorrhage, then it shuts down the brain and all other major organs. He couldn't even tell them when a person would rise, saying it could take anywhere from 3 minutes to 8 hours.

Just when they thought things couldn't get any worse, Dale asked about the clock on the wall counting down. Apparently the generators were running out of fuel and once they did, the whole building would be going up in flames, taking them along with it if Dr. Jenner had his way.

Rick tried reasoning with the man, telling him that even if he had lost hope, the rest of them hadn't and they deserved the chance to keep going, to keep trying to find a better life for themselves. Daryl preferred violence as he and Shane continued striking the metal doors Jenner brought down with axes. Finally with about 4 minutes to spare, they convinced him that they deserved that chance.

Andrea however had made the decision that she wanted to stay. After losing her sister and finding out that it was likely there was no chance at a cure, she just wanted to die. If it wasn't for Dale reasoning with her and saying he was staying if she was, they would have lost her as well.

The group made it up to the top level, banging on the windows and doors with no luck when Carol remembered the grenade she found in Rick's pocket his first morning at camp. Rick used the grenade to blow out a window and they were able to escape.

Sprinting to their cars, taking walkers out on the way, they made it to their cars in time to see Dale and Andrea crawl out the window and take cover behind a sandbag barrier before the building exploded, taking a little of their hope with it.

The group drove out of town, finally stopping once they cleared the walker infested city. They had to come up with a new plan. Shane was still insistent that their best option was Fort Benning, so they siphoned gas from a few nearby cars and prayed it would be enough to get them to their destination.

Carol and Sophia rode with Lori, Carl, and Rick and listened to them talk about family trips and laughing about a trip they attempted to make to the Grand Canyon when Carl was just a baby. As Carol listened to the talk, her mind went back to last night and her time in the bathroom with Daryl. She couldn't believe what she had done and from the way Daryl acted this morning at breakfast, he was either too drunk to remember it or didn't want to admit it even happened. He didn't look at her, or even acknowledge her presence. She couldn't blame him. He was a young, gorgeous, man. What would he want with a damaged woman like her? She could definitely understand how he could be appalled by her behavior.

At the same time, Daryl and Merle were in his truck, while T-Dog rode Merle's bike, much to Merles' disgust. Daryl had made that call when he found out T-Dog could ride. It was either that or Merle would be in the truck with T-Dog or the RV with a pretty pissed off Shane and Andrea. This way he could keep an eye on his brother. He may be doing better, but he still had a habit of pissing people off just for kicks. They had been driving on the highway for a while and surprisingly they hadn't run into as many traffic snarls as they expected. The few they ran into had given them the opportunity to get more fuel and scavenge for other supplies they had been forced to leave behind when the psychotic doctor decided to blow them all up. After their third stop, Daryl zoned out as he drove and his mind unwillingly went back to the night before. He could swear his lips still tingled from the feel of her lips on his. He could still feel her soft skin on his hands and the softness of her breasts under her towel. He had no idea what he was thinking when he let it happen. He should have never put his hands or anything else on that woman. She was way too good for his sorry redneck ass. She must have felt the same way because she took off that night, and hadn't spoken a word to him since. When that son of a bitch Jenner closed the doors on them and he heard her crying, pleading for her little girl's life, he went into a rage, refusing to accept defeat. He ran straight at the man with his axe planning on taking his fucking head off if he didn't open the doors. At the time he was pissed that Shane and T-Dog had held him back, but now he realized they had needed the man to get the doors open. His rage almost got them all killed. If he wanted to help keep everyone alive, he was gonna have to keep a clearer head than that. That meant forgetting the budding feelings he was having for Carol.

**Well there ya go. Like I said filler, but it had to be done. Please keep reading and reviewing. More to come soon! Thanks!**


	11. Chapter 11

**OK, I felt extremely guilty for not updating all week so I busted through this chapter much quicker than planned. I apologize for not replying to reviews for Chapter 10, but I was already working on this one **** Please be assured that I appreciate each and every review, follow, and favorite I get! You guys are awesome! If there are more mistakes than usual, just remember I have no beta and I was really rushing this one. Things are changing a little more, so this may not be what you expect. At least I hope not, or I'm not doing a very good job being original **

**Disclaimer: I own the DVD's and Season 3 on my DVR, that's about it.**

Their second day on the road didn't go as well. As they traveled the highway, they began to run into more traffic snarls. In an effort to find a better way around, Daryl was back on the bike taking lead. In the heat of the day, they ran into their worse one yet and to make matters worse, the RV broke down.

The road was completely impassible for them but until they got the RV fixed and got more fuel, they couldn't turn around and find a way around. In an attempt to make the best of a bad situation, most of the group began to search through the somewhat abandoned cars while Dale and Glen tried to fix the radiator hose on the RV.

Carol and Sophia walked between the cars, looking through trunks, hoping to find anything that could be of use. She was searching through the back of a hatchback when she found a huge supply of women's clothing, really nice women's clothing. She was holding a red shirt up to her thinning frame with a smile when a hand landed on her shoulder and she jumped.

"Lookin' good lady." Smiled Merle.

Carol let another small smile grace her face. "Ed never let me wear nice things like this."

"Just another reason why he was a douchebag." Merle muttered.

To everyone's surprise, Sophia giggled a little at that, but before either of them could comment Lori and Carl joined them.

"Hey Carl, always within my sight, OK.?" Lori said softly.

"You too Sophia." Carol added.

"Nothin' to worry about ladies, I'll keep an eye on 'em." Merle said.

Both ladies were a little shocked but nodded at him. He might be a little hard, but beggars can't be choosers in this world, and they had no doubt he was capable of watching after the kids for them.

"We're gonna need clothes." Carol told Lori, and started loading a bag that was in one of the cars they had searched through. She had just about filled the bag when Rick came running at them, telling them to get under the cars. Carol was in a panic. She was stuck under a car with Lori, and they were separated from the kids. Carol started to sob, but Lori put her hand over her mouth reminding her they had to stay silent.

The walkers were all around them now, and she could see Sophia, Carl, and Merle hidden beneath a truck just a few feet away. He was doing his best to keep them close and quiet. Closing her eyes, she said a silent prayer that the walkers would soon move on without seeing her babygirl.

Just as they thought the herd had passed, and they all began to come out of their hiding places, a stray walker grabbed at Sophia when she was trying to crawl out from under the truck. Merle blocked it and gave her time to get out from the other side. Two more walkers began to chase her and she ran straight into the woods.

Luckily Rick and Daryl both saw her take off and ran after her. She had disappeared so quickly and neither was entirely sure which way she went so in silent agreement, they split up, hopefully increasing the chances of finding her.

Daryl could see signs that someone had been through very recently, but he c

ouldn't tell for sure if it was Sophia or a walker. Nevertheless he decided that some sign of life was better than none and followed a trail straight to a small creek running through the forest. Unfortunately, the trail ran straight into the creek. Stepping in he walked towards the other bank hoping to find the trail pick back up when he heard a small whimper in an old beaver damn built up on the side of the creek.

"Sophia?" he whispered.

"Mr. Daryl? She whispered back, taking a step out and peeking around.

Running to her he placed his hands on her shoulders. "You alright?" he asked as he looked her up and down praying for no sign or bites or scratches.

Sophia just nodded her head and buried her head in his chest. She was shaking and shivering.

Picking her up out of the cold water, he held her with one arm and kept his other hand on his crossbow. "C'mon, let's get you back to your mama."

Back at the highway, Carol was beside herself. She kept watching the tree line willing Rick and Daryl to show back up with her little girl. She should have never let her eyes stray to the clothing she found. She had told Sophia to stay within her sight, but what was the point in that if she wasn't looking anyway. If it wasn't for Merle, that walker would have probably gotten her and her baby girl would be gone. Now Daryl and Rick were off risking their lives while she stood there useless.

"Daryl will bring her back, don't you worry." Merle said coming up behind her. "If they ain't back pretty quick, I'll go out there and bring 'em all back myself.

"No, it should be me. I'm her mama. I should have kept a better eye on her. If I had, she would have been with me and safe."

As her words hit Merle, she saw his face and she realized what she said and how he had taken it.

"Merle, I didn't mean it like that. I am grateful you protected her. You threw yourself between her and that walker and gave her a chance to escape. It gave Rick and Daryl time to get free and go after her. I just meant that if I was a better mother, none of this would have been necessary. She's my daughter and my responsibility, and I shouldn't be leaning on anyone else to take care of her. If she gets bit, or Rick, or Daryl, this is all on me. My fault.

"For a smart lady, you say some stupid shit you know that? I don't know about the others, hell don't really care about them, but me and my brother? You can lean on us, we might be hard men, but we ain't lettin' you and that girl get hurt. You're good people, you took care of my sorry ass when no one else cared whether I lived or died. Ain't nothin' happenin' to you or her as long as me and the boy are 'round. You got that?"

As if God heard her silent prayers, they both noticed movement in the treeline.

"Well lookie there, what'd I tell ya!" Merle smiled.

"Sophia! Baby!" Carol exclaimed as she ran to her daughter and Daryl. Daryl put her down and she ran into her mothers arms'.

Daryl watched with a small smile on his lips and lifted his head to meet his brother's eyes. They nodded to each other in silent communication.

"Mr. Daryl saved me mama. He found me and carried me back here. He even shot one walker on the way back with his bow. It was awesome!" Sophia said, excited. It was as if the terror she felt before was forgotten.

Carol stood up, and slowly approached Daryl. "I don't even know how to thank you. If it wasn't for you this day could have ended so much differently." Slowly, she reached towards him and pulled him into a hug. Awkwardly, he returned it, lifting one hand to clumsily pat her back.

The rest of the group had witnessed the reunion and Lori and Carl looked around desperately for Rick.

"Daryl? Where's Rick?" Lori asked frantically, holding onto Carl.

"Not sure. We split up. When we ran into the woods, we weren't sure which way the girl went. There were trails both ways."

"You're not sure? How can you not be sure? We're all supposed to have each other's backs and you just left him in the woods alone?"

"Look, lady. Your man can take care of himself, he had weapons. This little girl couldn't. We made a choice to split up and double our chances of saving her. You don't like it, tough shit. He'll be back, if not I'll go back out there lookin' for him myself."

"We both will." Merle announced. He wasn't Officer Friendly's biggest fan but he wasn't letting his brother go out in those woods all alone again.

Luckily, it wasn't necessary. Not more than 10 minutes after Sophia and Daryl arrived, Rick came out of the woods with his head down. When he spotted Daryl and Sophia standing with a smiling Carol, his face turned from dread to thrilled.

As the sun started to set, they all gathered around the RV, trying to come up with a new plan. There was no way that they could continue on with Fort Benning tonight, but after the herd coming through today no one felt safe staying where they were.

They were all debating about the safest options when it hit Rick.

"Saw an old church in the woods when I was out looking for Sophia. I went in to check and took out a few walkers. It's in good shape, would probably do for a night or two. If we take off now, we can probably make it before it's too dark. We'd have to check the other rooms and make sure it's completely clear of walkers but I'd say that's our best bet."

Two hours later they were settled into the church. Rick, Daryl, Shane and T-Dog did a sweep of the entire church and took care of the remaining walkers and drug them several yards away from the back door. To their surprise, the church was much larger than it looked. The basement was huge with several rooms that must have served as offices and Sunday school rooms as well as a large party room. Even better, it was stocked with food and water. They could stay here for several days without leaving if need be. They had unearthed a few cots and several sleeping mats. With what they found here and the little they were able to carry with them, they would be sleeping pretty comfortably.

Carol sighed as she settled in the small Sunday school room that had been assigned to her and Sophia. She was amazed at how much of a roller coaster the day had been. What started out as a horrible, terrifying day had turned into a decent evening. She felt much safer here than she ever did at the quarry. They didn't even run into any walkers on the way to the church. They were so far off the main road that she hoped maybe they could stay here for a while.

The others had insisted that she and Sophia both have a cot and now with Sophia all tucked into bed, she was able to watch her angel sleep. She was afraid to close her eyes and sleep, scared that when she woke up, Sophia would be gone and Daryl finding her would just be a dream.

It wasn't a dream though, and she thanked God for the day that Daryl walked into their lives. If it wasn't for him, there was every possibility that Ed would still be alive. She knew it was a sin to be thankful for her husbands' death but in the end she couldn't help but be thankful. If it wasn't for him, her babygirl would still be lost in these woods or worse.

A quiet knock interrupted her thoughts. Getting up, she opened the door to see Dale. "Carol, I hate to bother you but T-Dog is not doing well. That cut is getting very infected and if we don't do something soon, we may lose him. We were hoping that you could come take a look at it?"

"Me? Why me?" Carol asked.

"You did such a good job with Merle, we were assuming you had at least a little first aid training."

"Actually, I was going to school to be a RN when I met Ed. I didn't make it very far but I will at least take a look, and see what I can do. Can you please stay here with Sophia? I just don't want her waking alone right now."

Walking into the large communal room, she saw they had T-Dog situated on a cot in the corner of the room. He was wrapped up in blankets and clearly feverish.

Opening the first aid kit bolted to the wall, she was pleased to find it almost full. She grabbed clean gauze, peroxide, and a bottle of generic fever reducers. "Dale said you aren't doing well." She said to T-Dog. "Do you mind if I take a look? I want to see how much the infection has spread and make sure it's clean."

"Sure." He shivered.

Carefully pulling off the gauze crudely taped on with electrical tape she gasped. It was very infected and she could tell that no matter how much clean gauze and peroxide she had it wouldn't do any good. They needed antibiotics and soon, or Dale was right, they would lose him.

"How long since your last tetanus shot?" Carol asked, remembering someone say he cut himself on a car door. If he ended up with that as well, there was almost no chance of helping the man.

"Couple years, I think? Cut myself on a nail at a construction site." T-Dog replied.

"Well, that's good news, one less thing to worry about then. Ok, I really have to clean this and change the bandage. I know it's going to hurt, and I will do my best to be as gentle and as quick as I can be, OK?"

T-Dog just nodded and gritted his teeth. She made quick work of it all, and grabbed a bottle of water. "OK, take two of these and finish off this bottle of water if you can. These will help with the fever. I'm going to check with someone about getting you some antibiotics. For now, just rest. I will be back soon."

Looking around for Daryl or Merle, they were nowhere to be found. Seeing Rick walking out of his room, she headed straight to him.

"Have you seen Daryl or Merle? I need to talk to them." She asked.

"I think Daryl was going back out to walk the perimeter for a while. Merle and him are set up down the hall across from your room. I imagine Merle is there. Is there something I can do?"

"No, I don't think so Rick. I'm about to ask Merle for a huge favor and I think I'll have much better luck with that than you." She chuckled.

Rick laughed. "I imagine you're right. Good luck with that then."

Peeking her head into her room, she saw Dale sitting on her cot beside Sophia. He looked up as she entered and started to rise.

"No, just checking on her. Can't seem to help myself. I'm not quite finished out here, but I did get the wound cleaned as well as I could and put on a clean bandage. You're right, he has a bad infection. I'm going to work on that now, if you don't mind sitting with her for a while longer. This might take a while depending on Merle's mood."

"Merle? What does he have to do with it?" Dale whispered.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Carol laughed.

"No problem, do what you have to do. We're fine here." Dale assured her.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face the door and knocked softly.

"C'min." She heard a muffled reply.

Entering, she almost laughed. Merle was sitting on a cot reading. That wasn't the funny part, the funny part was the pink and purple flowered blanket he was using to cover himself.

"Well don't you look cute." She giggled.

Red faced Merle tried to look angry but failed. "Now listen here lady, s'not like I had a blanket choice. Think that bitch Lori threw these in here for us on purpose." He said, pointing to Daryl's Strawberry Shortcake blanket.

"Oh I bet he loved that." Carol laughed.

"He ain't seen it yet. You wanna stick around and watch? Should be a good time." He grinned.

"I'd love to but I'm here to ask you for a huge favor." Carol said, dropping her head.

Merle placed his good hand under her chin and lifted her face. "Hey now, can't be that bad."

"You say that now, but…"

"Just spit it out woman." Merle said rolling his eyes. He was sure she was just being dramatic. After everything they had been through, there wasn't much she could ask for that he wouldn't give.

"Well, T-Dog got hurt pretty bad on the road today when the walkers came through. He cut his arm on a car door. It's very infected, and if we don't get some antibiotics in him pretty quickly, we will lose him."

At the mention of T-Dog's name, Merles face hardened considerably.

"I know it's a lot to ask of you, but I'm hoping you have a little forgiveness in your heart. I know I saw another bottle of antibiotics in your bag. Do you think I can have it, at least half of it, for him?"

"There's part of me that would love nothin' more than to let that fucker die, you know that Carol. If it wasn't for him dropping that key, I wouldn't have had to cut my own hand off. If anyone but you asked, that's exactly what I'd tell them. They were damn smart sending you in here."

"Merle, no one sent me in here. I never even told the others about your drugs. This is all me. If you decide that you don't want to share, then we'll just have to think of something else. I won't tell anyone. This is all your decision, but I admit, I hope you make it easy on me." She said with a smile.

Sighing, Merle reached into his saddle bag leaning against the wall and pulled out his bag of meds and tossed it to her. "Take what you need."

Opening the bag she fished out the other bottle of antibiotics. She also noticed that they other more "extra-curricular" drugs were gone, and she looked up at him in surprise.

"Dumped 'em. This world ain't the place to be high. Gotta keep sharp. Shit was cleaned out of my system when I lost half my blood anyway, figured I might as well just stay that way.

Carol was beyond please at this news and that he was willingly helping T-Dog. She leaned forward and pulled him into a big hug. "You are a good man Merle Dixon, thank you so much."

As she was pulling away, Daryl walked in the door noticing that they looked awful cozy. He tried his hardest to push away the jealous urge to snap at them both.

"Where's the kid?" he asked.

"Fast asleep across the hall, Dale's watching her." She replied.

"Didn't figure you'd be letting her out of your sight."

"I didn't really want to but there was a little emergency." She explained.

"Emergency?" he asked, puzzled and little alarmed.

"Nothing for you to worry about." She assured him. "Your brother will explain."

"I really need to get back out there. Thank you both for everything." Carol said, walking out of the room.

To her surprise, Daryl followed her out of the room.

Placing a hand on her arm, "What's goin' on?"

Sighing, Carol tried to explain to him the situation. Daryl was a surprised as she was when she told him how easily Merle gave up the meds to save T-Dog.

"That's the brother I grew up with. Ain't seen him in such a long time, it's gonna take some gettin' used to again."

"I was surprised too. I really figured he would make me beg at least a little, but when I told him it was his choice and no one had to know if he said no, that seemed to make up his mind. He just told me to take what I needed."

"Guess you're a little more persuasive than ya thought, huh?" Daryl chuckled.

Carol smiled at that. "I really need to get back to T-Dog. He needs at least one dose of these tonight, if not two. The infection is already pretty bad, we need to stop it now before it's too late."

"Spendin' time alone with Merle in our room, then time with T-Dog, and Dale is in your room. Gonna have to figure out what their secret is." He teased.

At this Carol blushed. She wasn't used to teasing and wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Hey I was just kiddin', no need to be embarrassed. I know their ain't nothin' to it. You just like to take care of everyone."

Smiling, she got a little glint in her eye. "I guess you could say that. Maybe that's the secret, huh. Next time you need a little takin' care of you just let me know."

**There ya go. Hope you enjoyed the turn I've taken with this. Again, I'm still using the show as a baseline, but making the changes I thought would be interesting and obviously trying to focus more on Caryl because I love them. Please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the small delay. Let me just say without whining too much that if it wasn't for bad luck I seriously wouldn't have any luck at all... So yeah... Anyway! Thanks for all of the reviews, follows, and favories. I appreciate each and every one and it really gives me the confidence boost I need to continue. I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead and make no money for this. If I did, I would at least be able to afford to travel to a convention and meet Norman and Michael!**

Over the next few days, the group began to get comfortable in the church, much to Shane's dismay. They felt safe there and weren't in a hurry to get back on the road where their future was so much more uncertain. The church was secure, and there was plenty of room for everyone. They had more than enough supplies to last them for a while when accounting for what they had managed to haul from the highway and what was already in the church. Carol had even found an old cellar stocked with canned vegetables and preserves. They knew that they couldn't stay there forever, but until they could scout out a new home with fences and more security, they were mostly happy to be tucked into the church basement.

After a heated debate with Shane, it was decided that they would stick around for a week or so. The hope was that they could do some scouting and find a small town with a large building or a farm out in the middle of nowhere. In the meantime, Rick, Shane, Daryl and Carl were going to try to get back to the highway one last time, collect everything else they had collected in their travels and bring the RV and Daryl's bike and truck down the old country road to the church.

While they were gone, everyone took the opportunity to organize and get some work done. They all divided up their chores easily and Carol was stuck playing nursemaid to Merle and T-Dog. T-Dog was healing well, and it seemed the infection was slowly going away but he was still unable to lift his arm much and was very fatigued. Merle on the other hand, refused to sit still and take it easy so he wasn't doing as well. She knew it wasn't just his injury but he was starting to feel withdrawals and was even harder to deal with than before. As much as she liked the man, he was starting to drive her insane.

"What the fuck do you want now woman?" Merle shouted at her as she entered his room.

"I need to change your bandage. We can't afford for that to get infected. Antibiotics can only do so much, I have to keep it clean." Carol explained, trying very hard to be patient. She lived with a man who spoke to her like that for almost 20 years and she wasn't about to deal with that again. However, she had seen the good side of Merle and tried to remind herself that once his system was truly clean he would be back to his old self. Or at least she hoped.

"Well get on with it then, a man can't get any fuckin' peace aroun' here!" he snapped.

Keeping her head down she just nodded and got to work. She hated feeling like this again, like she had to watch every word she said, every move she made, especially around this man. The more she thought about it, the more she got angry. No, she wouldn't take this anymore, no matter what his excuse was.

"Well there you go your majesty, I'll just leave you to your peace. I'll just let your brother know when it needs to be cleaned again, I won't be darkening your door again to disturb your precious peace again." Carol shot back and quickly gathered her things to leave.

"Hey now, you ain't gotta be like that." Merle said quietly.

"Yes, I do! I know you are struggling Merle, and I've tried to be patient but I won't be treated like a second class citizen again. You sit there and insult me and shout at me when all I'm trying to do is take care of you. Well, I'm not going to allow it. You can shout and insult your brother, maybe he'll be willing to take your shit, but I'm not."

"Carol…"

"No!" she shouted and walked out of the room. Then she promptly walked across the hall and collapsed on her bed in tears.

She didn't know how long she lay there but when she woke up the church was in an uproar. Jumping up she ran into the communal area to find out what the fuss was. Spotting Andrea coming in the door, out of breath, she ran to her.

"What's happened?" Carol asked.

"Carl's been shot! A woman just came here in a horse shouting for Lori." Andrea said.

"Shot? How did this happen?" Carol asked, tears in her eyes all over again.

"We aren't sure. The woman just rode straight up to the door looking for Lori. She said that Carl had been shot and that Rick had told her that Lori needed to come right away. Lori just jumped on the horse and the woman gave us directions to their home and they took off."

"Well we have to go to them! We need to be there!" Carol exclaimed.

"Daryl's not back yet, we can't just take off without him, and Merle and T-Dog aren't in any shape to be moved. At least not by just you, Dale, and I. We need to wait until he gets back and we'll make a plan. Until he's back, I'll keep watch. Dale's out there right now."

"Where's Sophia?" Carol asked guiltily.

"Saw her headin' towards your room earlier." Andrea said puzzled.

"What? I've been in there and I haven't seen her!" Carol said.

"Maybe she's with Merle." T-Dog spoke up from his cot.

At the thought, Carol spun around and ran back down the short hallway and burst in Merle and Daryls' room. "Sophia!"

"Hi mama! I was just keepin' Mr. Merle company. What's wrong?" Sophia said innocently from her post by Merle cot.

"Honey, you shouldn't be bothering Merle right now, he needs his rest and PEACE and quiet." Carol said with a glare at Merle.

"Nah, she ain't a bother. Just been tellin' her some stories from when me and Darlyena were kids." Merle smiled, ignoring her obvious annoyance.

"Merle, I'm not sure my daughter should be hearing your kind of stories." Carol shot.

"Not ta worry, nothin' to bad. Just tellin' her 'bout the first time I took my brother out huntin' and started teachin' him how to use the bow. " Merle smiled and gently elbow Sophia, who started giggling.

Carol released the breath she didn't even realize she had been holding, relieved. "Sounds like a pretty good story, I'd like to hear that sometime."

"No time like the present, have a seat." Merle said, hoping she would take this as the olive branch he was intending it to be.

"Unfortunately, that's going to have to wait a bit, something has happened." Carol said.

"What? What's goin' on? Somethin' happen to my brother?" Merle asked, a little panicked.

"No, as far as I know he's fine." Carol said assuring him. She took a seat beside Sophia on Daryl's bed roll and put her arm around her daughter.

"Honey, Carl's been shot. We aren't real sure what happened or how he is right now, but as soon as Daryl get's back, one if not all of us are going to where he was taken." Carol rattled off as fast as she could.

"But... I thought he was safe with his Daddy and Mr. Shane." Sophia said, her eyes filling with tears.

"We all did, honey, but sometimes things happen that are beyond anyone's control. He may be fine sweetie, we just have to have faith that everything will be OK."

Sophia just nodded and buried her face in her mothers neck, and Carol just held her and listened to her baby girl cry over her first real friend. Glancing up, Carol caught Merle eye and was surprised that he had reached out his good hand and was lightly rubbing Sophia's back, trying to offer his own bit of comfort.

All the anger she felt for Merle just a few hours before was gone. She couldn't stay mad at a man that had made her little girl giggle and now offered her comfort when it wasn't necessary. She tried to convey her forgiveness in her eyes and was happy to see a nod from him in acknowledgement.

Finally Sophia sobs quieted and Carol pushed her back enough to look her in the eyes. "Honey, as soon as Daryl get's back, I'm hoping we can all go to the farm where they took Carl. Do you think you can go to our room and pack up some things just in case? I'll be there in just a minute, OK?"

Sophia nodded and slowly rose and walked out the door.

"You sure nothin' else ain't wrong, Carol?" Merle asked, searching her eyes.

"Isn't that enough?" she answered quickly.

"It sure 'nough is. I'm just wonderin' why my brother ain't back?" Merle asked. "You don't know nothin' about that?"

"No, I'm sure he's fine. I heard him say that once he got the bike loaded on the truck, he was going to do some hunting before he came back. He probably has no idea what's happening here. If he did he would be here, I'm sure." Carol tried to assure him.

"Didn't say nothin' about that to me." Merle grumbled.

"You sure about that? You've been like two different people the last day or two. He might have told  
Evil Merle." Carol chuckled.

Despite himself, he chucked a little with her. He knew he'd been an ass since they got to the church, but he'd just been feeling so miserable, and didn't really care who he made miserable with him. Until today. Carol going off on him like she did was a wakeup call for him.

"Yeah, you're probably right. He probably said somethin' and I probably told him to fuck off or somethin'. Know I've been a bastard lately. Ain't gonna make excuses, but I'll try to do better, at least to ya'll who been good ta me. If the boy ain't back soon, somebody ought ta go lookin' for him."

"We don't really have anyone who can right now. Glen is great but Dale's the only one here really trained with guns and able right now and no matter how much Andrea thinks she can handle herself, I don't think it's smart to send her out there on her own. With everyone else gone we need Glen As much as I would love for someone to go after him, we really wouldn't have any way of knowing where to start looking for him."

"You're probably right. 'Sides, boy can handle himself with the geeks. Bet he'll be back soon." He said wondering if he was trying to reassure her or himself.

"I'm going to check on Sophia and the others and see if there's been any sign of him. You OK in here? Do you need anything?"

"Nah, 'm fine, go take care of your girl." Merle brushed her off gently.

When she entered their room, Sophia was busy putting some of their clothing in a small black duffel bag, tears streaming from her eyes. When she heard Carol coming in she slowly walked to her mother and buried her head back into her chest and Carol wrapped her arms around her.

"Honey, I'm not smart enough to know what the future holds, and I can't promise you that Carl or anyone else is going to be alright, but I can promise you that I will do my best to make it as OK as possible and always do my best to keep you safe."

Sophia just nodded, and held on to her mother. After a few minutes, Carol knew that they had to get moving and check on the others.

"OK now honey, it's time to be strong. We need to dry our eyes and finish up here and then go check and see if Daryl is back yet. You think you can be strong for me? Carl may be just fine, let's not jump to any conclusions, OK?"

"OK, I can be strong. You really think Carl's going to be OK? " Sophia asked hopefully.

"I'd love to tell you yes, but we just don't know, but dwelling on the unknown won't do us any good right now, so let's just do what we have to do."

With that they got busy, and packed some essentials in case they were able to go to Carl that night. As they were finishing up, they heard a sharp knock on the only partially closed door.

"Come in!" Sophia called.

In stepped Daryl.

"Oh, thank God you're here!" Carol exclaimed.

"Ain't been gone that long." Daryl uttered. "What're you two doin' packin' up?"

"Didn't the others tell you what happened?" Carol asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, I just sent T-Dog, Andrea, and Glen in my truck. The rest of us are gonna stick here for now. Told the chinaman to come back in the mornin' and give us the scoop. We ain't gonna be nothin' but in the way right now."

"But…" Sophia cried.

Daryl could see that he had upset the little girl and he was sorry, but he knew he was right, and he was determined to keep these two safe. He didn't know nothin' about the Greene's and until he knew the lay of the land, he wasn't comfortable uprooting everyone. Better to keep their base here at the church until he knew for sure.

Bending down to be eye level with Sophia. "Look now, I know ya wanna be with your friend, and I can't blame ya, but like I said, we ain't gonna be any help to them right now. We gotta a pretty good place here, I'd hate to leave it and it get overrun. I know we've been hopin' to find a farm 'round here and that sounds like that's what these people have but they might not want us there. What if we get there and they don't and we lose this church. What would we do then, huh?"

Carol smiled, he was right. She hadn't really thought of that. They really couldn't rely on the kindness of strangers anymore. They could only rely on each other.

"Honey, I think Daryl's right." She said when her daughter was just staring at Daryl with a blank look on her face, not blinking or even acknowledging Daryls' words. "What's wrong Sophia?" she asked when Sophia still didn't respond, placing her hand on her shoulders.

"Nothing, it's just…" Sophia said, dropping her head as if she was afraid to voice her opinion.

"It's OK, kid. Say what you gotta say." Daryl said.

"Just never heard you say so much at once, didn't know you could." Sophia said with a little ornery smile.

Carol had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle the laugh that wanted to escape her lips.

Daryl just chuckled. "Little shit." He said, cuffing the back of her head lightly. "Ya'll go ahead and unpack your stuff. Could use some help with somethin' outside when your done. Gonna go check in with Merle, meet ya out there."

**I apologize to those who were hoping for a little more Caryl (**clears throat** Axel Rocks). ***Warning possible spoilers ahead for the last two episodes of Season 3. Don't read ahead if you haven't seen the current episodes yet*** **

**I know this chapter is a little Merle heavy, but I really like that guy and I have a feeling he's not going to be with us much longer so I'm in a little pre-mourning mood and just couldn't get away from him this chapter. Not sure if this qualifies as a true spoiler, but it's my opinion on what I think is going to happen. I WILL CRY. Not even going to deny it.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's the next chapter. I'm so sorry it took so long, but I wasted an entire weekend going in a whole different direction than I really wanted. Therefore, almost 3000 words went to waste, twice… Ugh. It's so frustrating, and then that episode last night? No. Words. I won't spoil it for you guys that haven't seen it, but seriously… . :'( **

Daryl wasn't kidding, he did need help. She had no idea how he managed to get the large boar to the church all by himself. It had to be at least 150 lbs.

"Wow! What is that? A pig?" Sophia asked as they walked out of the church.

"It's a wild hog. Found a whole passel of 'em. This one was the biggest. Got a good idea of where they hang out so unless they get run off or taken out by geeks, we got plenty of food for a while.

"Would you get a look at that guy! We'll be eating high on the hog for days!" Dale said, chuckling at his own joke.

"Gonna need some help gettin' him all strung up. Figured that tree would do, but need some cord to hang him up. Dale, ya got anything would work?"

"I think so, let me check." Dale said.

"Gonna need some warm water, a bucket, and a scrub brush." Daryl said to Sophia and Carol.

"No, problem. I'll go warm up some water, and I'll send Sophia out with a bucket and a brush."  
Carol said heading into the church.

"Tell Merle to get his ugly ass out here and make himself useful. Time for his ass to quit lazin' around and do somethin'." Daryl shouted at her back.

"No need to yell at the woman little brother, I'm right here." Merle said stepping outside. "Well, well, well, whatya got here. Looks like a little of what I taught ya sunk in huh boy."

"About time ya dragged yourself outside. I'd a been goin' nuts layin' inside all that time. You wanna look 'round and see if you can find a real flat stone. Left my whetstone in the truck. Gonna need to keep my knife sharp to get this fucker cleaned up and cut up. Ain't gotta saw."

By this time everyone else had joined them. Dale had come up with a large roll of thick nylon cord, which would work fine and Carol and Sophia joined them with everything else he had asked for.

Carol and Sophia sat on the steps and watched as the three men tied the cord to the hog's legs and hoisted it up in the tree Daryl had chosen.

"Carol, you keep that rifle close and neither of ya get any farther away from the door than ya already are. Once I cut and gut this fucker, there's a chance that the smell might drawl in the walkers. Need ya to keep a close eye out and warn us if ya see anything comin', then get your asses in the church."

Sophia scooted a little closer to her mother and they settled into watch Daryl, Dale, and Merle get to work.

It took them around an hour to get the boar cleaned and quartered and luckily there was no sign of walkers. As Carol helped them clean up and store the meat in the small freezer they had found.

"We're going to need more fuel for the generator if we're going to be here more than a few days." Carol told Daryl as she came back outside.

"Once we find out what's goin' on with Carl and the others, we'll make a plan. I still think it'd be better to stick 'round here, but its best if we aren't all split up much longer."

"I wonder what's keeping them. I thought someone was going to come back this morning and let us know." Carol said worried. "Maybe someone should go and check?"

"Nah, it's still pretty early, let's give it a little longer." Daryl said.

"I just hate not knowing. Poor Carl. I hate this. It's bad enough we have to worry about walkers, now we have to worry about other people too."

"Always had to, it's just more obvious now." Dale piped in.

Carol sighed. They were right. If anyone knew that it was her. She was just so focused on keeping herself alive and her little girl safe from Ed that she hadn't really thought of how dangerous others could be. "I'm sure someone will be here soon. In the meantime, we should head in. I'll get us some breakfast."

Thankfully they didn't have to wait much longer after breakfast. Glen and another woman pulled up in Daryl's truck just as they were all walking outside.

"Oh, thank God, we were starting to get worried. Please tell me Carl is OK!" Carol said, wrapping her arms around Glen in a hug.

"Hershel says he's stable now." Glen said, putting his hand on Carol's shoulder.

"Stable? God, how bad was it? Who's Hershel?" Dale asked.

Taking a deep breath, Glen started from the beginning and explained to them what had happened in the last 24 hours.

"Daddy has said that you are all welcome to stay on the farm until Carl is better. We don't really have room for everybody at the house but there's plenty of room for ya'll to set up camp if ya want." Maggie offered.

"We appreciate that ma'am but I think we'd better discuss it with the rest of our group." Dale said.

"Can you give us a moment, Maggie?" Carol asked. "Please make yourself at home. There's still a bit of food left from our breakfast. Help yourself."

"Sure, go ahead." Maggie said, wandering around. "We used to go to church here, I know my way around, take your time."

The group all gathered in the hallway between Carol and Sophia's room and the Dixon's.

"What should we do? Daryl, I know you don't want to give up this place, and I don't either, but we need to go check on Carl and make sure that none of them need anything. We can't really decide what to do until we speak to Rick and the others."

"How 'bout we try to lock this place up as tight as we can. We can head there today, check on Carl and talk to the others." Daryl said.

"I don't see why we gotta go there at all. Think we'd be just fine and dandy just the five of us. Don't trust none of the rest of 'em. None of ya'll locked my ass up and left me."

"Yes, and I'm sure you didn't bring any of that on yourself, did you Merle." Dale snapped.

"Hey now, old man, I ain't got no beef with you. Why ya gotta be like that?" asked Merle.

"Probably cause he's been around long enough to know you." Daryl snapped. "We need to get to that farm and talk to Rick. "We can't do things without other people anymore, brother. We all need to stick together. Like I said, we'll lock this place up tight. If we gotta take it back over, we will."

Surprisingly, Merle kept his mouth shut and everyone else agreed.

"Alright, everybody gather everything you can in one bag each. We'll lock everything else up here. We need anything else later on, we can come back for it. Don't think the farm is all that far away. We'll be back." Daryl assured them.

Everyone started to split up to get what they could but as Carol started to walk away, she felt a hand grasp her wrist and she turned around to face Daryl.

Looking down at her daughter, "Sophia honey, go ahead a grab a bag and get started, I'll be in in a minute."

"You alright? You're shakin'." Daryl whispered to her.

"I'm fine. There's so much… it's overwhelming." Carol whispered back.

"Listen, I ain't gonna let nothin' happen to you or Sophia, so quit your worryin'." Daryl assured her.

His words made her smile. This strong quiet man who tried to push everyone away when they first met, had opened up so much, and he amazed her. "Worrying is in my nature, Daryl. If you plan on stickin' around, you might as well get used to it." She said smirking.

"I ain't goin' nowhere." Daryl said.

"Good to know. I kinda like this guy I'm seeing these last few days. Not that I didn't like the other one, but this one…"

"What the hell you talkin' about woman?" Daryl interrupted.

"The take charge guy. He's kinda sexy." She smiled. "I better get in there and help Sophia pack. If I don't, Lord knows what I'll have for clothes the next few days. Never let a twelve year old plan your wardrobe." She chuckled.

"Kinda depends on what she leaves out." Daryl smiled.

**I know it's kind of short but I have really struggled with this one. Not sure what's up with that. I think I have a better grasp of where I'm going now, so hopefully things will smooth out going forward. Please let me know what you think. I'm always open to advice and constructive criticism. Thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

**OK, I finally figured out why I was struggling so much with the last couple of chapters. I've been ignoring all the little plot bunnies running around in my head because they are so flippin' fluffy. Guess I'm just going to let go and let them have their fun. I really wanted to keep this more realistic and IC but I guess it's just not in the card for this story lol. Oh well! (FYI: The fluffy bunnies are pretty dirty minded too so avoid the last part if that's not your thing ****)**

**This is my very first attempt at smut, so please forgive me if it's cheesy or awkward.**

**Thanks for all your reviews, follows, and favs, they mean so much to me!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead and never will, but I do own my love for Caryl **

The next couple of weeks on the farm were hectic. It was decided quickly that the group needed to stay together. Hershel had apparently made it very clear to Rick that once Carl was better, they were expected to move on, so they planned on going back to their church when that time came. Daryl made a habit of going by the church every day on his hunts and so far everything had stayed locked up tight.

Carol and Daryl had taken to spending most of their time together, mostly keeping Sophia occupied and Merle out of trouble. Merles first encounter with Hershel and his daughters had been a near disaster. When Merle had stepped up and introduced himself and called Hershel's youngest daughter, Beth, sugar tits, he thought the old man's head would explode. Daryl was sure that if Hershel hadn't wanted them off his land before, he definitely did now. Merle really had no shame. From that day on, Carol and Daryl had an unspoken agreement to keep Merle out of the Greene's path as much as possible.

Luckily and surprisingly Merle had taken a real interest in Sophia and Sophia enjoyed spending time with him. Carol wasn't really thrilled with some of the language and habits her daughter was learning, but in this world there were so many worse things she could be exposed to. The reality was that they were both safer now than they were before the dead started rising and the world was turned upside down.

Daryl had set up their tents out a ways from the rest of the group which was fine with Carol. Even if they had to live in tents for now, they were away from that barn. They had been informed by Glen after their first week there that the Greene's had several of their family and friends who had turned in the barn. Hershel was still convinced that there would be a cure and that they would get everyone back. Rick had tried to explain to him about their trip to the CDC and that it was too late for his loved ones, but the man refused to give in. Carol admired the man's faith, but she worried how the man and his family would take it when they realized that there was nothing anyone could do at this point.

She didn't have to wait long. Shane had become increasingly unstable since Carl's accident and the revelation of Lori's pregnancy so the barn full of walkers was apparently his breaking point. When Shane saw Rick and Hershel coming across the field with two more walkers to add to the barn, he lost it. He handed everyone a weapon that would take one and busted the lock on the barn doors. What came next would haunt Carol for the rest of her life. It was a bloodbath and watching Hershel and his daughters fall to their knees with grief was absolutely heartbreaking. When she thought things couldn't be worse, a small girl shuffled out of the barn. The girl was roughly Sophia's age and she couldn't help but pull her daughter closer and shield her eyes as she watched Rick put the girl down. If Daryl hadn't found Sophia when he did, as quickly as he did, it could have been her girl coming out of that barn. She had never been so thankful for Daryl Dixon in her life than she was at that moment.

Carol took Carl and Sophia to the RV while the rest of the group cleaned up the bodies and Rick went to try to repair their relationship with Hershel. She tried to keep the kids busy with a game of scrabble but they were both distracted and she could tell that Carl was getting tired. He was recovering well but still didn't have his normal energy level back yet. After very little argument, she persuaded the kids to lay down in the bed at the back of the RV for a nap. Part of her wanted to curl up with them but she couldn't bring herself to close her eyes. She knew she would be haunted with visions of what she had seen that day for many days to come. Stepping out of the RV she almost ran straight into Merle and Daryl.

"Where you goin'?" Daryl asked.

"The kids are taking a nap, I wasn't going far, just needed some fresh air." Carol said. "Are you all finished already?"

"Pretty much. T-Dog, Glen, and Andrea are haulin' off most of 'em. Gonna take 'em a ways out and burn 'em. Kept the old man's wife and step-son. Lori said we ought to bury 'em, give 'em a service."

"That's a wonderful idea. Like Glen said, we should always bury the ones we love, and burn the rest. They were their family and deserve that. Hershel and his family need some closure, hopefully that will help them mourn them properly now."

"If the old man hadn't been so stubborn, they'd have already done that." Merle said.

"Think about it though Merle. If we didn't know what we knew from Dr. Jenner, would we be so sure that he was wrong? Would it be so easy if it was someone you loved. Wouldn't you want to hold out a little hope?" Carol asked. She almost asked him how he would react if it was Daryl, but she couldn't get the words out. Just the thought of that turned her stomach, almost as much as the thought of that little girl being Sophia did.

"Hmmmph. Never been much for holdin' out hope when everything is hopeless, but I guess I see what you're sayin." Merle admitted.

"Nothing's hopeless yet, Merle. We still have a lot of things going for us. Until it's us coming out of that barn or stumbling around in the woods, we have plenty going for us." Carol said, glaring at him. This wasn't the time for that kind of talk.

"Yes ma'am." Merle chuckled and gave her an awkward salute. "I believe I stand corrected."

"Damn right, ya are." Daryl said, his lips trembling, trying to keep from smiling. He'd never seen a woman able to put his brother in his place like Carol could. His brother had definitely met his match. All this talk of hope brought something he'd seen earlier to mind.

"Ya mind keepin' an eye on the rugrats for a few minutes?" Daryl asked his brother.

"Nah, go on, I got it." Merle said. He knew what his brother was thinking. He'd seen the rose bush down by the small pond the day before and he knew his brother had too. Damn boy was always the sweet one. Sentimental like their mama.

With a nod, he thanked his brother and signaled Carol to follow him.

"Where are we going Daryl? I should go check on the others. Lori hasn't been doing well since she found out she was pregnant. She can't be taking all of this well."

"She'll be alright for a little bit. She was headin' back to her tent to rest when we headed up here and Dale was with her. I just wanna show ya somethin'. We won't be long."

Carol was intrigued so she followed him silently as they walked out to the edge of the property to the small pond she had seen a few times. As they neared the perimeter of the pond, Daryl bent down and picked a small flower from a bush growing there and handed it to her.

"A flower?" Carol asked, a little shocked.

"All that talk about hope reminded me of a story my mama told me once and this bush I saw the other day. It's a Cherokee Rose. The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow where the mothers' tears fell. I think these roses are here to show you that you're right. There's still hope."

Carol had tears in her eyes as she looked up from the rose he handed her to his eyes. "This is beautiful Daryl, and that was a beautiful story, but I don't need a rose to know there's hope. All I have to do is look at you to know that." She said, raising her hand to place it on his cheek.

Daryl started to pull away but she stopped him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "No, don't pull away please. Just let me say this?" Carol pleaded. When he didn't make another move to pull away, she knew she could proceed. "I need you to understand something. When I saw that little girl walk out of that barn, it hit me what a gift you are. That could have easily been Sophia in that barn if it wasn't for you. The whole group could have starved if it wasn't for you. I could still be living my own personal hell courtesy of Ed if it wasn't for you. I need you to understand what a blessing you are. You are a honorable man, and when I look at you I see nothing but hope." With that she dropped her hand from his shoulder, expecting him to run away. She knew he wasn't good at this, and that it would almost surely push him away, but she couldn't let the chance to say her peace go.

Then the last thing she expected to happen happened. Daryl reached out and grabbed the hand she had let drop to her side. "You don't know me. You don't know the things I've done. I ain't good enough for you woman, but I can't seem to stay away. So, you better go now, cause if you don't I don't think I can stay away anymore."

Staring in his eyes, she was shocked to see he also had tears in his eyes. Not just tears though, she also saw desire. Something she'd never seen directed at her before. Squeezing his hand, she made her decision. "I'm not going anywhere."

At her words, she felt herself jerked forward into his body and his mouth descended on hers. This wasn't their first kiss, but this time her mind was completely clear and she was surprised to feel that his lips were so soft. He still seemed reluctant, as if he expected her to push him away at any moment, so she reached up and ran one hand through his hair and pulled his mouth even harder against hers. This seemed to assure him and it was on.

His hands were everywhere and their mouths only parted to take a breath. She didn't know how they ended up on the ground but suddenly they were and he was on top of her. His lips were suddenly traveling down her chin and around her neck and up to her ear, his teeth nibbling on her earlobe. She couldn't do anything but moan and tip her head to give him more access.

He had found one of her hot spots and as he started suckling on her earlobe and her hands ran down his back to his ass and pulled him closer, their bodies perfectly aligned. Between the feeling of his lips on her neck and the feel of his hot breath in her ear and his hard cock hitting her center, she lost the little bit of control she had left and began thrusting forward.

Daryl couldn't believe this was happening. It was like they were to teenagers dry humping, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. She felt so good, so soft. If this was how Merle felt when he was high on his drugs, then he now understood why it had been so hard to kick them. This woman was like his drug, the more he had, the more he wanted and he didn't even care how or where he had her, he just had to have her.

Just when he thought she was coming to her senses and was going to stop him, she surprised him even more by reaching between them and popping the buttons on his pants and lowering the zipper and shoved her hands straight down his pants to grasp him. He was already on edge and the feel of her soft warm hand on him just about threw him over it.

She just couldn't take it anymore. She had to have her hands on him, and for once in her life she was taking what she wanted, no matter where they were. He was so hard in her hands, harder than she could ever imagine and the feel of him made her mouth water. The feel of his silky shaft in her hand and the moans in her ear spurned her on and she stroked him harder and harder picking up the pace, she realized she didn't even care if she came at this point, she just wanted to see and feel him let go.

"Carol," he groaned. "Fuck, ya gotta stop that, or I'll be done. Please, not like this."

"It's OK, Daryl. Let go, I just want to feel you come. Just let go." Carol pleaded.

"But…you… I wanna…"

"There's plenty of time for that, right now I just want to do this for you."

"Ohhhh fuuuuuuckkk." Daryl shouted, falling over the edge, his body involuntarily jerking as he rode out his release.

Carol was mesmerized at the vision in front of her. The look in his eyes as he came almost made her come too. She'd never seen anything hotter than Daryl Dixon writhing with pleasure, his mouth parted and his gorgeous blue eyes glazed over.

He almost collapsed on top of her, but had the presence of mind to throw his almost dead weight sideways to keep from crushing her.

"Damn, woman." Daryl said, shaking his head.

Carol just chuckled and laid her head on his chest.

Tucking his arm under her, he wrapped it around her waist and pulled her against him and kissed the top of her head.

"We really need to get back. The others are going to start wondering where we are, ya know?" Carol said wearily. She really didn't know how he would react to that. She knew he was a really private person, and probably wouldn't like the group speculating on his love life.

"Screw 'em. Let 'em wonder." Daryl said sleepily.

"You're one of those men who has to sleep after sex aren't you?" Carol laughed.

"Dunno." Daryl said, now half asleep.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Carol asked. Surely he wasn't saying what she thought he was saying.

Daryl was wide awake now. He couldn't believe he had just admitted that to her, but he reminded himself that this was Carol, and he could trust her. Hell he figured if they ever got any farther than a handjob, she'd figure out he didn't know what the hell he was doin' anyway.

"I mean, I dunno. Ain't never done that. Never went much farther than kissin' and feelin' up a few girls through their clothes." Daryl admitted, his face turning red.

Carol tried not to show her surprise, but she wasn't sure she had really succeeded. He was such a gorgeous man and she had no idea how it was possible, but she could feel his muscles began to tense under her head and the hand on his chest and knew she needed to do or say something to calm him before he ran and closed her out.

"You could have fooled me." She smiled, lifting her head to give him a soft kiss on his lips.

He had no idea how the hell she did that. With just a few words and a kiss, he felt himself relax and his insecurities fell away. If Merle could see them now, he would call him a pussy, but at the moment he didn't even care. He decided he wasn't going to worry about it, he was just going to enjoy her until she came to her senses and realized he wasn't the good man she thought he was.

"You're crazy woman. You know that right?" he said shaking his head and pulling her closer.

"Maybe so," she said laughing, "but no more so than you. As much as I'm enjoying this, we really need to get back. I need to check on Sophia and Carl, and you need to see how Rick's talk with Hershel went. Carl's well enough that with everything that happened today, Hershel may want us to leave now."

"None of this is our fault, just that crazy fucker Shane's. I tell ya, that man's losin' it." Daryl replied.

"All the more reason for you to go check on Rick. He needs you Daryl. With Shane the way he is now, Rick's been relying on you more and more." She said, patting him on the chest as she began to rise. "C'mon, let's go."

"Alright, woman, quit you're naggin', I'm gettin' up." He said rising. "Gonna have to take a shower or a dip in this pond tonight." He chuckled as he zipped up his pants.

"You and me both." Carol laughed and wrapped her hands around his middle, placing her hands in his back pockets.

"That ain't the way to get outta here." He laughed, pulling her close.

"Not starting something, just remembered something I need."

"Oh yeah, sounds like startin' something to me." Daryl smirked.

"Nope, just needed this." She said grabbing the rag that he always kept in his back pocket.

With that he blushed a little, he hadn't even thought about the fact that HE was still all over her hand. If he thought about it, it was a little sexy, so he made up his mind to try not to think about it or he was going to be mighty embarrassed when they walked back into camp. There would be no doubt as to what they were doing out here if he came strolling back with a hard on.

When she was finished cleaning her hand, she stuck it in her back pocket. "I'll just throw this in the laundry I need to do in the morning." She said. Looking around to make sure they hadn't left anything she spied the rose that had brought them here. She picked it up, thankful that it hadn't been crushed underneath them. "This will look nice in the RV, don't ya think."

"Long as Dale don't think you're hittin' on him." He smirked, nudging her. "Let's get back, it's gettin' dark anyways."

She nodded in agreement and they walked companionably back to camp, their shoulders brushing every so often. Just as she was about to enter the RV, he grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him again.

Leaning close, his stubble brushing her cheek, he spoke softly in her ear. "Don't think I forgot I owe ya one lady." He said, nipping her earlobe.

"Oh, don't you worry I won't. That shower sounds really good tonight, don't you think?" She said, then winked at him and headed into the RV.

**Thanks for reading. I hope it didn't disappoint!**


	15. Chapter 15

**First of all, I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to get back to this story. RL has kicked my butt lately and I just couldn't focus on anything. To be honest I didn't even open this laptop until yesterday and then I just stared and stared at what I had written. Finally I just had to delete what I had and started it all over. I really wanted to give you guys a really long chapter, but I'm just not quite there yet. Things are getting better but there's still a lot of static in my head. I'm working through it though, and I hope you enjoy this one. I really do have a very clear idea as to how this is going to go, just need to translate if from my noisy brain into actual words that make sense ****. If you have stuck with this through the wait, you have my humble thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my sincere admiration for everything that is Walking Dead, and my love for the seriously sexy Norman Reedus and the wonderfully classy Melissa McBride.**

They never did get their shower. Not long after making their way to camp, things went crazy. Hershel took off, and Rick and Glen went after him. Then Lori left shortly after, not telling anyone else, so once they realized she was gone, Shane took off after her. Poor Beth was in a catatonic state and Maggie was in a panic with everyone she loved in one kind of danger or another. Within a week the group was really falling apart, and Rick called everyone together for a meeting.

"Hershel has asked us to leave. He's not saying immediately, or that we have to go far, but he wants us off his land. Losing his family was the last straw for him, especially where Shane is concerned." Rick said to the group, with a glare at Shane.

"Whatever, man, I did what needed to be done. Ain't no way he shoulda' expected us to live with those fuckin' geeks in that barn. I cleaned up that old man's mess."

"Shane, I ain't sayin' what you did didn't need to be done, but you ever think that it's the way you approach things?" Rick said. "Hershel would have come around at some point, and we could have taken care of it, but you have to push, just like you always do. All you did in the end was make things harder on everyone."

"Man, fuck that! I protected all ya'll. Don't be puttin' this shit on me just cause you ain't got the balls to take care of what's yours!" Shane said, getting into Rick's face.

Rick stepped right back up and it looked like things were going to come to blows, Dale, Daryl, and T-Dog all jumped up to pull the men apart.

"Gentlemen, this is not the time or place for any of this. It's a little late for blame. Hershel has obviously made his decision so the point is moot. We need to come up with a plan." Dale said calmly standing between Rick and Shane.

Slowly the men backed up and returned to their original places. Everyone knew that the fight wasn't over but they didn't have time to worry about that. They were going to have to leave their safe haven and they had to come up with somewhere else safe to go.

"Fort Benning! I said it before, I still say, it's the best place for us." Shane said, eyes still blazing.

"I don't know man, what's the odds it'll be in any better shape than the CDC was? You saw all the dead soldiers man. How smart is it to drag everyone more than a hundred miles just on a hunch?" T-Dog spoke up.

"He's right. I know, no matter where we choose to go, there's no guarantee, but there's no way we can justify going that distance knowing what we know, after seeing what we've seen." Rick said.

"Think we ought to find another farm around here, keep close. We already been able to stay 'round here longer than anywhere else. Probably 'bout as safe as it gets." Daryl put in.

"The church." Carol said softly.

"What Carol?" Rick asked, turning to her.

"The church. We could go back to the church, at least for now, until we find somewhere more permanent." She said a little more confidently.

Rick nodded. "That's not a bad idea. We'd be out of Hershel's hair, but not too far away."

"C'mon man, you gonna listen to that fuckin' redneck and Carol? Seriously? Carol? The one person in this group that don't contribute shit?" Shane jumped back up, shouting.

No one was more shocked than Daryl when Merle beat him to Shane. Merle was just a flash of color rushing passed him, and then Shane was on the ground and Merle was on top of him. He held him down with his handless arm and there was a knife in his other hand being held straight to Shane's throat.

"Now you listen here motherfucker. You mighta thought I was tame, and I'm tryin' to get along here, but I hear another fuckin' word come out of your mouth about that woman, I ain't gonna try so hard to get along. Ole Merle will gut your fuckin' ass and then stomp them guts. You understand me? Do ya?"

Shane grudgingly nodded. "Get off!"

Everyone just stood there shocked, even Rick. He knew he should have stepped in and prevented it, but for once he agreed with Merle. Shane was getting out of hand, and he deserved a little wakeup call. He was out of control.

Daryl looked over at Carol to see her eyes filled with tears and he was enraged again. Not that he didn't appreciate his brother steppin' up, but he was gonna have his say too.

Calmly, he walked past Carol, caressing her shoulder and walked slowly to Shane.

"Daryl, no…" Carol said, panicking a little.

Putting up a finger, he tried to assure her that he just needed a minute and that he would try to keep calm.

"Come with me." He demanded to Shane.

"I ain't goin' nowhere with you.

"The fuck you ain't. We need to talk in private. You either come with me, or I'll just let my brother fulfill that promise to ya. You wanna deal with me or him?" Daryl asked, fire in his eyes.

"Whatever man, I'm tired of this shit. Let's go." Shane said. "Lead the way."

Nodding, Daryl took off back towards the old barn, with Shane at his heels.

As they approached the barn, Daryl turned around to face Shane again. "Wrong choice fucker." He said quietly.

"What?" Shane said puzzled.

"You made the wrong choice. Pickin' me over my brother. I'm gonna give you somethin' you didn't give Carol. I'm not gonna humiliate you in front of everyone. I'm gonna tell you what's gonna happen in private. You ever step near Carol, Merle, Sophia or myself again, Merle guttin' you is gonna be the least of your worries. That's gonna be like heaven compared to what I'll do. You're losin' it, Shane and I ain't gonna let any of them be 'round when ya explode. So unless you wanna find your self hangin' from a tree as walker bait, I'm thinkin' it's time to pack your shit and take a fuckin' long trip. You're the one that ain't helpin' round here. While she's busy takin' care of everyone 'round here, feedin', cleanin', and watchin' both fuckin' kids most of the time, all you're doin' is causin' shit and tryin' to fuck your best friend's wife."

By the time Daryl was done Shane eyes were bulging out of his head, and he's was seething with anger. Daryl could tell Shane was on the edge. "C'mon Shane, make this easy for me. Won't even have to keep my eye on ya. Come at me. Please." He dared him.

"Man, fuck all ya'll." Shane spat, and stomped away, heading straight towards the larger grouping of tents.

With a sigh, Daryl walked to the side of the barn to collect himself. He leaned against it dropping his head. He wasn't sure if what he had done was the smartest or the dumbest thing he could have done. His temper got the best of him and he couldn't help himself. Shane was a loose cannon and he couldn't just let what he had said about Carol go. Damn woman only thought of herself, but he was damn sure she believed everything that bastard said about her. He could only hope that Merle and himself standing up for her would help him convince her that it was all bullshit.

"Daryl? Are you OK? Where's Shane?" Carol asked, approaching him.

"What are you doin' out here alone. Too damn dark to be wanderin' off on your own." Daryl asked, straightening up, walking towards her.

Carol smiled and held up a machete. "I brought a friend, besides I figured I could handle walking to the barn on my own."

"You know how to use that thing?" Daryl smirked.

"Just slice and hack, right? Can't be too hard."

"Somethin' like that." Daryl chuckled.

"You didn't answer my questions. Are you OK? Where's Shane?"

"I'm just peachy. Why the hell you care about Shane after the shit he was spouting out there?" Daryl snapped.

"I was afraid for you. Shane is unstable, Daryl. What were you thinking of going off on your own with him in his state?"

"What do you mean, what was I thinkin'? I was thinkin' that that bastard disrespected ya. I wasn't gonna let that go. Told him if he knew what was good for 'em, he'd stay away from you and Sophia. Ain't lettin' him spout his shit no more."

"Oh, Daryl, you didn't have to do that. I've had worse said about me, pretty much everyday of my marriage, in fact. It was unnecessary to put yourself in danger like that. I don't know what got into you or your brother. I'm well aware that I don't do enough around here, that I'm pretty much a burden. I intend to do something about that though. There was no reason for this."

"No reason? A burden? Don't do enough? Woman, I ain't heard that much bullshit at once in my whole fuckin' life. You ain't a burden and you do more fuckin' work around here than three other people combined. We'd fuckin' starve without you, and Hershel woulda kicked us out a long time ago for stinkin' up his farm if you didn't do most of the laundry. You may not hunt, patrol, or keep watch woman but you do a hell of a lot. Don't let some fucker like Shane or an asshole like Ed ever make you feel like that again. I won't fuckin' have it."

Carol dropped her head as her eyes filled with tears.

God, now he'd gone and made her cry. "Fuck, Carol I'm sorry." Daryl said, pulling her to his chest. "Please don't cry. I didn't mean to make ya cry. Just don't want ya thinkin' that shit about yourself."

"Thank you." She whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Huh?" he asked, puzzled.

"Thank you." She said louder, lifting her eyes to meet his.

"What the hell ya thankin' me for? Makin' you cry?"

"You didn't make me cry, Daryl. Well you did, but not like you think. They're not sad tears, they're happy tears, and maybe I'm a little overwhelmed."

"Happy tears? What the hell woman?"

Carol chuckled and wiped her eyes. "You really haven't been around many women have you?"

"Nope."

"Let me explain something to you then, Mr. Dixon. We cry, well some of us anyway, a lot. When we're overwhelmed with any emotion. Doesn't matter if we're sad, happy, nervous, embarrassed, it's just what we do sometimes. It's been such a roller coaster since everything started and tonight it all just hit me. Tonight, I just wanted to crawl in a hole, I'm not going to lie, but the way you and Merle stood up for me…" She shook her head. "Now that was overwhelming. I can handle insults and abuse, I'm used to that, but for the two of you to stand up for me like that, I just didn't know what to do with that. I don't even think that I completely understand it, but thank you." She said, placing her hand on his chest.

"Don't gotta thank me for nothin'."

Smirking, Carol pressed him against the wall, her body firmly against his. "Oh, really, OK then, I guess I better go find Merle and thank him then." She said, and started to turn away.

Daryl didn't say a word, he just reached out and pulled her back against him and captured her lips. In an instant they were completely wrapped up in each other, like they were fighting to crawl under each others skin. Daryl ran his hands down her back and ass, gripping her thighs and lifted her and her legs automatically wrapped around her waist. He turned them so that her back was now against the wall and he dove right back in, his tongue plunging deep into her mouth. She tasted so sweet and he couldn't get enough of her.

Carol finally had to pull away to catch her breath. This was another kind of overwhelming, definitely not the kind to bring her to tears. This was the kind that was more likely to curl her toes and her clit throb. Daryl took the opportunity to work his lips and tongue down the side of her neck, nipping his way down to her shoulder blades.

"God, Daryl." Carol moaned. He was driving her crazy. His mouth attached to her neck and his hard cock pressed directly against her pussy, pressing the seam of her jeans directly against her pussy. She felt like she would explode at any moment.

Daryl worked his way back up her neck to her ear and softly whispered to her. "Time to repay that favor." He said, letting her legs drop from his waist. Immediately his hands went straight to the button of her pants almost ripping the zipper in his hurry to get to his goal. Automatically his pushed his hand straight down the front of her pants, dipping into her underwear.

"Tell me," he breathed in her ear. "Tell me how to make you feel good. I just want to make this good for you."

Carol pushed her pants and panties down her legs to fall at her ankles. She no longer cared about who could see them, she just wanted this to last forever. Carefully, she grasped his hand and guided it between her legs, pressing his fingers to her clit. "There." She groaned, guiding his hand in a gentle circular motion.

Daryl could feel the hard little nub she had guided him to, but he wanted to get closer, to really see it, understand what it was that was already making her rock her hips and moan. He dropped to his knees and gently pushed her legs farther apart to he could see the object of his fascination. As he continued rubbing her, he could feel her getting wetter and as he dipped his head to get a better view he caught her scent. She smelled like heaven and before he had a chance to overthink it, he pulled his hand away and pushed her thighs open even more and buried his head between her legs, his tongue flattening against her clit. He had never done anything like this before, but instinct and her moans guided him. He pushed a finger inside of her as he continued to work his tongue against her clit. He had thought her mouth tasted like heaven, but this was beyond his imagination.

Carol was lost in the sensations he was bringing her with his mouth. For someone so inexperienced, this man had a talented mouth. She could feel herself dangerously close to her peak, and though she didn't want this to end, when he added another finger and began to suckle on her, she was lost.

Daryl felt her tense and her legs began to quiver. With a long, deep moan, she came and had to grab the top of his head with both hands to keep herself steady. Wiping his mouth, he stood and smirked, feeling pretty satisfied with himself.

"Jesus!" Carol sighed breathlessly.

"Naw, just Daryl." He said cockily.

**Well there you go. I hope it wasn't too disappointing after such a long wait. Not sure how the smut will go over, but I have to say I made myself blush a little lol. No promises on when the next chapter will be posted, but it will not take another 3 weeks! Anyway, hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think!**


	16. Chapter 16

**OK so I lied, seriously, but I swear it wasn't on purpose. I'm not going to go on and on with excuses about why this has taken so long, but I will say the craziness of my life in the last few months cannot be overstated. If you are reading this, hopefully I am forgiven and I am eternally grateful. Well enough of that, here we go!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just my love for The Walking Dead and all things related!**

* * *

The next few days were hectic for the entire group. While the women were working on clearing their camps and packing everything, the men were scouting the area around the Greene farm for a new place to call home. Daryl and Merle had gone back to the church to confirm that it was still locked up and secure and aside from a few walkers wandering around in the surrounding woods, it was just as they left it, thankfully.

Carol was actually proud of herself for reminding them of the church. They hadn't spent very much time there, but it was a solid place for the group, and she felt like it was a safe a place as any, maybe even safer than the farm since they would all be inside instead of in tents. She was hoping that Rick and the others would find another farm with a house large enough for everyone, so that they would not have to camp outside again where walkers would have easier access to them. Truthfully, she already felt like Sophia and herself were safe because Daryl and Merle always stayed close. The others didn't have that advantage though, and Carol was beginning to feel like they were all becoming a family and the last thing she wanted was to lose any of them.

Her biggest worry of all was Shane. There had been something off about him since Rick came back to his family and it seemed that he was getting progressively worse. The man they had met and helped to protect them at the quarry seemed like a distant memory. She knew deep down he was a good man, but that good man seemed to be getting buried underneath the anger and resentment that was pouring off the man so strong than it could physically be felt by the others. The only one who seemed to be oblivious to it all was Carl. Even Sophia, who spent every moment she could with Carl as he was recuperating, made sure she needed to be somewhere else anytime Carl wanted to spend time with Shane. If anything was a sure sign of trouble on the horizon, it was her sweet, kind hearted daughter avoiding him. Ed was the only other person she had even been like that with. The comparison may not be fair but since the night everyone else agreed to leave the Greene farm at Hershel's request and Shane's confrontation with Rick and both Dixon brothers, it seemed apt.

Carol's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps and Sophia and Merle laughing as they approached their campsite.

"What are you two up to? Hopefully not too much trouble?" Carol asked, smiling at them.

Merle just smirked and ruffled Sophia's hair. "Now why would ya think that? We were just comin' to tell you that Hershel wants us all in the house tonight for dinner, and to see if ya wanted help. Now I'm thinkin' we wouldn't be much help, since we're trouble an all."

"Uncle Merle!" Sophia said. "Ughh, why are you so ornery?"

Sophia hadn't even noticed what she said but the two adults sure did, and they had both frozen in place. Carol wasn't even sure she should bring attention to it, but as she looked up at Merle, she saw a proud grin spread across his face, and she realized it was OK. At least until Daryl heard her say it, or worse called him… She didn't even want to think of his reaction to that. No matter how good he had been to her and her daughter, and how great things had been going with them, she feared that pushing him like that could push him in the opposite way. He was still so unsure of himself about certain things and throwing a readymade family at him before he was ready was a sure recipe for disaster.

Clearing her throat, "So really you two, what was so funny?"

Sophia's cheeks turned bright red but started giggling again.

"We caught the chinaman and the farmers' daughter makin' out behind the barn." Merle smirked.

"Beth? Oh my?"

"Aww, hell no, not that little angel! The little hellcat, Maggie."

"Oh! I was wondering if that might happen, but she seemed so upset with him after he told us about the barn."

"Well your girl and I can definitely say that if she was mad, she ain't no more, unless what we saw was the start of a hate fu…"

"Merle!" Carol stopped him, shooting a look at Sophia.

"Oh yeah, sorry 'bout that half pint."

"It's ok! Momma, can I go see Carl? He just over there with his Mom!"

"Sure go ahead, but try not to tell him about what you two saw, it's really none of our business, and if her daddy found out, he may not be very happy and we've already caused enough trouble for him and his family."

"But Momma, I _have_ to tell Carl, he's my _best _friend, it's like a rule!" Sophia pleaded.

"Lord, when did you get so dramatic? Fine, if you think you have to tell him, go ahead, but you tell him that it stays between the two of you! I'm serious, if it gets back to Hershel, I will know how. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am. Thanks!" Sophia shouted and ran straight to Carl.

Merle was chuckling, "Damn girls' growin' up huh? Gossipin' like you ole' hens!"

"Old hens huh? Really Merle, I'm an old hen? And since when have you ever heard me gossip? I spend most of my time with you, your brother, and the kids, when in the world would I have time or the material to gossip?"

"Aw now, don't be like that, I was just messin' with ya!" Merle said, trying to turn on his charm and get himself out of the hole he had unexpectedly dug for himself. He wondered at how often he seemed to have to do that with this woman and even more shocked at the fact that he cared. The apocalypse had changed their lives, but not as much as she had. If his dumbass brother ever fucked it up, he'd kick his ass and do his damndest to win her over himself. She was fanfuckintastic in his book, and the kid was just a bonus. And she called him uncle. He was startin' to like this family shit, he was just hopin' his brother would feel the same way.

* * *

Daryl had had a long fuckin' day and he was not in the mood for anymore bullshit or people. He'd spent his whole day scouting the surrounding area with Rick and Shane and if he had to look at that fuckers face anymore today he was gonna come unglued. Shane had spent the whole day being a dickwad to Rick and treating Daryl like he wasn't even there. Daryl could have cared less about the last part but he had a growing respect for Rick and it took everything he had to keep his mouth shut and let Rick deal with it. In his mind, Rick should have just kicked the peckerwood in his big mouth and moved on, but apparently Rick had an unlimited amount of patience and mostly just let Shane run his mouth. To make matters worse, every farm they checked out had been beyond repair or too small and unfenced, so they were gonna have to do it all over again tomorrow. He really hoped that Shane took his strong suggestion and just took off, which would make the whole search and resettlement much easier on everyone. He'd thought about talkin' to Rick about switching with T-Dog or Andrea but he felt like he should be the one to have Rick's back.

In the meantime, Daryl just wanted to crawl in his tent and sleep. He was peopled the fuck out and didn't want to deal with anyone tonight.

_Well maybe not anyone_, he thought as he approached his campsite seeing Carol bent over the fire, grilling something using one of the grates they had scrounged from the old barn. He didn't see Sophia or Merle anywhere around and he realized that he was going to actually have a few minutes alone with her. His spirits lifted immediately as he quietly slipped around her to drop his gear by his tent and slip his arms around her waist.

"Oh, Daryl! Where in the world did you come from? I didn't even know you guys were back! How did it go?" She asked, using her free hand to softly squeeze his hands interlaced at her stomach.

"I don't even wanna fuckin' talk about it." He growled, burying his face into the back of her neck, enjoying the smell of soap and a little sweat. "You shower without me?"

"I had to, I was in the house finishing up the last of our laundry before I packed it up and Hershel offered. How was I supposed to say that I couldn't without you? I have a distinct feeling that wouldn't have gone over too well. Now stop changing the subject, what happened today to get you in this delightful mood?"

"Just Shane bein' fuckin' Shane. Don't know how Rick kept from stringin' his ass up."

"You didn't?"

"Nah, I did what I told ya I would. I kept my trap shut and let Rick deal with him. Ain't sure if I can keep that promise if this goes on much longer. Wish he'd just go, he ain't gonna be happy with the rest of us anyways. Him bein' here just causes trouble for everybody."

"Well thank you for keeping your promise. I just don't want you getting in his crosshairs. I just have a bad feeling about him, and I don't want you in the middle of the drama. Rick doesn't deserve it either, but it's a little harder for him to avoid it."

"Well yeah considering Olive Oyl over there can't keep her legs…"

"Daryl Dixon! She's my friend! She thought her husband was dead, it's not her fault!"

"Well you've gotten better at choosin' your friends since then. I ain't blamin' her for that, but I know she ain't helping Rick with Shane. Seems more like she's fuelin' the fire to me."

"What makes you say that?" Carol asked.

"Just little things I've seen in the last few days. Ain't nothin' specific. Seen her arguin' with Rick yesterday mornin' then I seen her and Shane talkin' later on. You'd think she'd keep her fuckin' distance when Rick wasn't around if she didn't want Shane gettin' the wrong idea."

"Well yes, I suppose so. I'm sure it was just innocent though. I can't imagine Lori still encouraging Shane." She reasoned as she pulled the grilled squirrel off their makeshift grill.

"You're too fuckin' nice woman." He said, reluctantly letting her go.

"And you're a cynic, Mr. Dixon. I guess we kind of cancel each other out, huh?" she smirked, loading their plates.

"Somethin' like that." He chuckled, patting the spot beside him, inviting her to join him before he dug into his dinner. "Where the hell are Merle and Sophia? Out causin' trouble?"

"Ha! I'm telling them you said that. I said the same thing to them earlier and they were very offended! Glad I'm not the only one that sees it! For once though, no they aren't out causing trouble, they are in the house for dinner. Hershel invited all of us in for dinner for our last night. I told them to go ahead, I had a feeling you wouldn't be in the mood, so I told them we were going to stick around camp."

Daryl had no idea what he'd done to deserve this woman, but he sure was thankful he had her. "You read my fuckin' mind woman. How'd you do that?"

Carol laughed, "I don't know about mind reading, but I do know that you were with Shane all day and I also know that we haven't had a moment to ourselves in days. I missed you."

"Missed me? I been here every night lady. You missin' me or missin' my lovin'?" he smirked.

"Well, there's that too, but no that's not what I was getting at." She laughed, lightly bumping his shoulder with her own. "I just miss time to ourselves. I think it may be about time to have a talk with Sophia."

"Talk, what kinda damn talk." Daryl said, trying not to stutter. This was the kinda shit that made him nervous. He had no idea how to deal with family shit, his family not giving him any kind of example to be repeated.

"Just a talk, maybe see what she thinks about us? We'd at least be able to be a little more open with her. Maybe with Merle too. I know it's not your style to advertise this with everyone, but letting those two in the loop would allow us to spend a little more time together."

"Shit, woman, you think she don't already know? I know damn well Merle does. Them shit eatin' grins he gives me over your shoulder every time we're all together 'bout makes me wanna punch him. If he don't know something's goin' on now, he knows something's gonna be."

"I really don't know what she knows, but I think we should be open and honest with her. I haven't exactly given her a good example of how a healthy relationship should be like. It's just time that I do that. She needs to see that not all men are like Ed and that relationships don't always have to include violence."

Daryl was starting to feel a little in over his head and it took every bit of control he had not to throw his plate down and run. Was he ready for this shit? A _relationship_? A _talk with her kid_? Hell no he wasn't.

"God Daryl, would you please calm down? I can see the wheels turning in your head. I'm not asking you to have a sex talk with her or to marry me, I'm just saying that we should sit down and tell her like it is. I think it will make it easier on all of us in the long run. Chew and swallow your food before you choke." She laughed, she really didn't mean to give the poor man a heart attack. She was sure if she had kept going, he would have jumped up and ran, leaving a Dixon-shaped hole in his tent.

"I'm calm woman, quit actin' like you're my mama. Been eatin' my whole life. You just surprised me is all. Ain't used to this family shit and havin' to answer to other people. Let a man think a little when you shoot shit like this at him."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I guess I'm a little anxious. I really do just miss you, and I feel like we can't truly be ourselves when the others are around and I hate that. I hate that I can't reach out and touch you or lay my head on your shoulder."

"So just do it, why we gotta make a big fuckin' announcement. Either way Merle's gonna give us shit, probably more if we make a big fuckin' deal of it."

"But Sophia…"

"Ain't stupid, you can be damn sure she won't be surprised. Now happy, I ain't so sure."

"Daryl, if you're right and she already has an idea, then I think she's happy, trust me."

"What makes you say that? She say somethin' to ya? What the hell are we even talkin' about if she's already said shit to ya 'bout me?"

"No, it's not like that, but Sophia has always been very honest with me and I think if she has any idea, she doesn't have any objection or she would have said something to me. Plus, just something she said this afternoon."

"What did she say?" Daryl prodded. He was really curious now. He knew any future he wanted to have with Carol would partly depend on her daughter. Plus he liked the kid, she was a little smartass, but then maybe that's why he liked her. Pretty eyes like her mama and quick as a whip, yeah as he thought about it, he really did want Sophia to like him, not just because of her mama.

She knew she shouldn't have even mentioned it. He was already a little freaked out, but he also seemed upset at the thought that Sophia might not want him around. Plus Merle would probably open his big mouth anyway. At least if the information came from her, she could control how he heard it. Merle was like a freight train, he would just bowl Daryl over with the information and keep going without any thought to what effect he would have.

"Well, now don't freak out, OK. It was really cute, I don't even think Sophia even noticed what she said."

"Woman, don't you know when you tell a person not to freak out, all they wanna do is freak the fuck out? Just spit it out already!"

Fine! She called him Uncle Merle. Like I said, I don't even think she realized she said it. And Merle just looked proud as hell. It was sweet really. I only mention it, because to me that means she thinks of the two of you as family."

Daryl mind was racing. Uncle Merle? Did that mean the kid thought of him like a daddy or just another uncle. If he had a choice what would he want? He didn't know how to be either. The real question is did he want either. Did he want them to be his family? Shit had gone so fast since the quarry.

"Huh."

"Huh. That all you're going to say?

"Not real sure what to say 'bout that."

"Daryl, none of this is meant to push you. Maybe things are going too fast? The last thing I want you to feel is pressured. I can back off if…"

"No!" he even surprised himself when it came out of his mouth. "Hell no, I don't want you to back off." He was scared, hell yeah, but there was no damn way he was losing her. Most of the time he wanted her closer. He guessed that he pretty much just answered his own question. Yes, he did want them to be his family. When presented with the slightest chance that he might lose them, he knew he couldn't EVER lose them.

"We'll have that talk with both the kids when they get back from supper." He chuckled.

"Ha, yeah, that really fits. He really is an overgrown kid sometimes, isn't he?" she said relaxing. She felt the tension that had been building up since they started this talk leave her body almost instantly. He didn't freak out, or at least not for long.

"So, since we're gonna have this big talk with the kid, do I get ya in my bed tonight?"

"And where exactly is Sophia in this scenario? I don't think that's gonna work until we have our own rooms somewhere. At least for what you have in mind."

"Hell woman, just you layin' with me would be a start." He smirked.

"Uh huh, and how much sleep will I get with me "just laying with you"?

"Bout the same as I will I expect."

"Uh huh, sounds real restful… and heavenly. We have that talk with Sophia when they get back from dinner and I'll see what I can do." She said turning, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Daryl gave her a quick peck and backed away quickly surprising her. "Looks like it's time to have that talk." He nodded behind her at Sophia, Merle, Carl and Lori all coming towards them.

"Are you sure about this?" Carol whispered, suddenly a little scared herself.

Daryl smirked, a put his hand at the small of her back and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I'm sure, never been so sure of anything before. I think of you two as family too."


End file.
